Like Shakespeare, Wilde, Stevenson and so many of our course authors, Chrissy Costanza frequently writes about Hell. But why? And when we come across that Hell motif, what can we say about it? Let’s find out…

It’s impossible not to love Against The Current. When I went to see them play at the Islington Assembly Rooms in December 2019, the night was black and cold, the wind was swirling through the North London streets and entering the doors of the venue felt like stepping out of Hell and into Heaven. The band’s colourful melodies always have that effect – they make us feel happy and hopeful.

Not that the trio’s lyrics (listen to Chrissy Costanza’s solo material or any of the songs on ‘Fever’ for evidence) are always bright and shiny. Actually, ATC often lift us up by encouraging us to face the darker elements of the world. Rather than showing us how to escape them, Chrissy sings about the experience of taking our demons on – and, ultimately, we feel better for having battled with our issues than we would have if we’d simply run away from them.

One of the ideas Chrissy and ATC come back to on a few occasions is that of Hell…

ACTIVITY 1

Start by listening to the 3 Costanza/ATC tracks linked below. Listen for the references to Hell. In each case, think about why that Hell metaphor is effective? What is Costanza trying to tell us about what she’s feeling/experiencing when she sings about Hell? What can we infer about the speaker through her use of the ‘hell’ imagery? Jot down your ideas.

Key lyric: “Seven minutes in Hell”
Key lyric: “Welcome to Hell”
Key lyric: “I kept raising Hell”

ACTIVITY 2

Now, look at the ideas about Hell listed below. Which of the ideas that you haven’t already considered feel pertinent to the discussion we’ve been having? How can our new understanding of Hell help us to develop our analysis of the motif/metaphor? What else can we now infer about the speaker through her use of the ‘hell’ imagery?

  • a place of punishment as well as of darkness
  • the opposite of heaven – where God is NOT
  • The Old English hel belongs to a family of Germanic words meaning “to cover” or “to conceal.”
  • In Mesopotamian (pre-Christian) traditions, hell is described as a distant land of no return… barred against invasion or escape.
  • Those in Hell will be there eternally: “When I was twelve I was in a boarding school, accommodated with evangelical houseparents, along with seven other boys. We had two bible expositions a day. One day we had Mark 3:29: Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. Apparently this meant eternal punishment in hell. I was petrified. I was the whole of 12 years old. I couldn’t remember whether in all those years I had ever blasphemed against the Holy Spirit.”
  • Virgil’s hell includes special compartments for infants and suicides and specific punishments for specific crimes, but the ordinary dead, who merit neither a hero’s reward nor a scoundrel’s punishment, remain unaccounted for (essentially, then, you become nothing?)
  • the torments of hell, even if not eternal, are dreadful enough to have a powerful deterrent effect (ending up in hell then suggests a brazen streak?).
  • Christian: Hell is the dwelling place of those who reject God irrevocably, whose alienation from God is a permanent expression of their own ill-used freedom, and whose suffering is at once physical (burning by fire) and spiritual (deprivation of God).
  • in The Bible described as: “outer darkness”, a place where there will be “wailing and gnashing of teeth” that never stops.
  • Hell has long been assailed as one of Christianity’s cruder means of maintaining control. And some spiritual leaders, intent on presenting a less vengeful God, have attempted to soften or, in some cases, to abolish Hell. It’s essentially a modern phenomenon: to cast off this old, sadistic barrier to faith in a loving God.
  • Hell, properly understood, is less a place than a state —namely, the state of remoteness from the love of God, an inevitable downside of the gift of free will.
  • C. S. Lewis… considered Hell a choice. 
  • St. Thomas Aquinas insisted that we should think of Hell as a benefit, not a bug: “In order that the happiness of the saints may be more delightful to them and that they may render greater thanks to God for it, they are allowed to see perfectly the sufferings of the damned.” 
  • “For all the barbarism of Hell as it is traditionally taught—its ludicrous time frame, its unfair and somewhat bigoted admissions policy—at least some of the right people turn up in it.” 
  • Hell is mentioned sparingly in the Bible, with many references being either ambiguous or mistranslations: Sheol is mentioned 66 times in the Hebrew Bible, and many versions of the Old Testament translate the word as hell. For example, the King James Bible renders Psalms 16:10 as “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” The exact meaning and etymology of the word Sheol is debatable. Some biblical scholars argue it is a synonym for the grave itself. Under this view, a more accurate translation of Psalms 16:10 might be: “For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.” Other scholars disagree and argue Sheol is a realm of the dead (see Job 10:21). Even then, Sheol is a far cry from hell. Rather than a realm designed to punish sinners, Sheol is a place where all souls congregate and exist in listless nothingness. There is no pain or suffering, but neither is there joy or celebration.
  • Each era since has refashioned hell in its own image, for better and for worse.
  • On the one hand, it shows our desire for justice. If life will not play fair, then we can at least imagine an afterlife where the wicked and treacherous pay for their crimes, while their victims receive relief from earthly torments.

ACTIVITY 3

Finally, look at the quotes from the texts referenced below. Which of the notes you made when listening to the 3 songs feel relevant to the quotes? Highlight any of those notes which you think feels true for the characters referencing Hell below. How does the use of that word “Hell” link the characters’ feelings to those of Chrissy Costanza?

Of course, you should feel free to look for use of the word “Hell” in any of the other texts you’re studying. Find an online copy of the text you want to look at and press ‘CTRL + F’ – this will allow you to search quickly for any mention of the word. You can work on the quotes you’ve found instead of, or as well as, the quotes below.

  • Othello
    • note the middle syllable of Othello’s name
    • “’tis the spite of hell” /
    • “She’s, like a liar, gone to burning hell”
    • “O, I were damn’d beneath all depth in hell”
    • “this hellish villain;”
  • Dorian Gray
    • “Each of us has heaven and hell in him, Basil,” cried Dorian with a wild gesture of despair.
  • Jekyll & Hyde
    • find the word mixed into the names of those of main characters
    • “the spirit of hell awoke in me”
    • “child of Hell”
  • Romeo & Juliet
    • “hell itself.”