Geoffrey Tempest, a desperately poor, struggling writer, is astonished one night to receive three letters - one informing him that a distant relative has died and left him five million pounds, one from an old, wealthy friend offering to introduce him to a man who could help him with his career, and one from the man in question, Prince Lucio Rimânez, who is eager to make Geoffrey's acquaintance. Geoffrey enjoys his newfound riches and his friendship with the charming, cynical Lucio, despite growing evidence that Lucio is in fact Satan.
The Sorrows of Satan contains examples of:
- Deal with the Devil: The relative who left Geoffrey his millions believed that he was rich because of a deal with the devil. Everyone laughs off his beliefs, including Geoffrey at first. Geoffrey later learns that he was a thoroughly evil miser who was driven mad by his own villainous nature and committed suicide.
- Death by Childbirth: Geoffrey's mother died this way.
- Driven to Suicide: Geoffrey and Lucio go to a gambling club, where he has a massive winning streak. One of his competitors, Viscount Lynton, was already deeply in dept from gambling, and his losses ruin him. Then Lucio persuades Lynton to play a game for his soul, which Lucio wins. Geoffrey plans to write Lynton to cancel the debt, but before he can leave the club, Lynton shoots himself.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Geoffrey and Lucio go to visit their new neighbor, the famous author Mavis Clare, only for her two dogs to instantly develop a violent hatred of Lucio. Emperor, a St Bernard, even tries to maul him, much to the confusion of Mavis, who knows Emperor to be a very good-natured dog. Lucio explains that the dogs are accustomed to Mavis's honesty, and therefore object to a personified lie like himself.
- Fiction 500: Lucio is so incredibly wealthy that he considers Geoffrey's five million pounds (over 500 million in today's money) to be a mere trifle. He tells Geoffrey that he could buy up whole kingdoms, or destroy whole countries with financial speculation.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Geoffrey's Love Interest Lady Sibyl's aunt, Charlotte Fitzroy, is a serious, deeply religious woman who has lived a blameless life. Sibyl's mother, the Countess of Elton, lived a life full of sin and dissolution, and the strokes that paralyze her are said to be punishments for her actions.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: Satan tailors both his physical form and his personality to the person he's trying to tempt at the moment.
- Gold Digger: Sibyl's father, the Earl of Elton, is waiting for his wife to die so he can marry Diana Chesney, a 20-year-old American heiress. He has also made it clear to Sibyl that she must marry wealthy so he will have another source of income. Sibyl believes herself to be incapable of romantic love and openly admits that she only accepted Geoffrey's proposal for his riches, and she sees herself as having been sold on the market, little better than a slave girl. Geoffrey wants her so badly that he's willing to enter a loveless marriage.
- Goodbye, Cruel World!: Before Sibyl drinks the poison, she writes a detailed suicide note describing the influences that led her to become what she is. After she drinks the poison, she survives long enough to write about her visions of the hell that awaits her.
- Good Is Old-Fashioned: The most fashionable characters are atheists who believe in free love and express the belief that God and morality are hopelessly outdated.
- Impoverished Patrician: Geoffrey comes from an old family of gentry, but after his father died, Geoffrey learned that he had been deeply in debt, and had to sell nearly everything they owned.
- Interrupted Suicide: Subverted. One character comes out as a villain by coming across another clearly about to commit suicide, and responding, "Pardon me! I had no idea you were busy! I will go away. I would not disturb you for the world!"
- Magically-Binding Contract: When Lucifer was an angel, he was disgusted by the thought of lowly creatures like humans being elevated to the same status as himself. He told God, "If thou makest Man in Our image I will destroy him utterly, as unfit to share with me the splendours of Thy Wisdom, — the glory of Thy love!" Unfortunately, angels are incapable of breaking oaths, and are compelled to follow through on any statement made before God. Lucifer was cast out of Heaven, and as punishment, God told him that he would only be forgiven once the world rejected him and turned to God. It seems increasingly unlikely that that will ever happen, especially since Lucifer is still compelled to tempt people into sin because of his vow before God.
- Maiden Aunt: Charlotte never married, and instead lives with the family to help care for the Countess of Elton.
- Misery Builds Character: Geoffrey realizes that the hardships he went through as a struggling writer could have forged him into both a brilliant writer and a good man, if he hadn't suddenly come into wealth that he did nothing to earn. By the end, Geoffrey's lawyers have stolen most of his fortune. Geoffrey is grateful, because now he can truly enjoy his gains and achievements, knowing that he actually earned them.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Sibyl describes how, when she was younger, she cultivated a cold and listless demeanor, which caused her to be seen as dull. As a result, she was invited to "quiet teas" by fashionable ladies to help entertain their lovers, trusting Sibyl to be too stupid to understand that she was helping them commit adultery. Sibyl understood perfectly, but kept up the act so she could learn about human nature.
- Sex Sells: Lucio advises Geoffrey that in order for his books to be successful, they must be indecent, so that they will be both praised by critics for being "advanced" and purchased by schoolgirls who are curious about sex.
- Spurned into Suicide: Sibyl falls madly in love with Lucio, the first person she's ever been attracted to, and accepts Geoffrey's proposal partly so she can cheat on him with Lucio. To her shock, Lucio rejects her and condemns her for her sins, which have placed another barrier between himself and Heaven. Sibyl commits suicide by drinking poison.
- Starving Artist: Geoffrey tried to find work as a writer, but was unable to get any of his manuscripts published, and ended up living in a tiny room in a slum. After being fired from a steady job as a Caustic Critic for writing a positive review, he is on the brink of starvation before Lucio enters his life. Once he gets rich, he's able to publish and heavily advertise his book, although the insincere positive reviews from paid-off critics make it hard for him to feel any pride.
- Title Drop: Lucio says, "Considering the Arch-Enemy of mankind - if half the stories reported of him be true, he must be the most piteous and pitiable figure in the Universe! What would be the sorrows of a thousand million worlds, compared to the sorrows of Satan?"
- Verbal Tic: Sibyl's father, the Earl of Elton, says "Ha-ha-ha!" a lot.
