Milton's Complex Satan in Paradise Lost
Milton's Satan continues to fascinate critics largely because he is more
complex than the Devil of the Christian tradition appears. Satan's
rebelliousness, his seeking of transcendence, his capacity for action,
particularly unconventional action, endeared him to certain types of minds,
even if their viewpoint might be considered theologically misleading.
Milton often follows the road of intellectual definition for his characters,
of reasoning demonstration. This serves well his theological and
intellectual cohesiveness. However, when his thought becomes more
conceptual rather than metaphoric, it falls trap to its own special kind of
static imprisonment. Most of the images in Paradise Lost, however, have a
substantial life of their own; they are properties rather than metaphors.
In the presentation of Satan, Milton is dealing with a special difficulty.
He is not presenting a human intelligence, but an angelic one-a being the
nature of which is almost impossible for the human mind to grasp. Milton
simplifies the matter by making spiritual intelligences more highly refined
versions of human intelligence. He is still left with one problem, that of
introducing a flaws in this refined beings. Because of these refined
intelligence, these creatures should incline solely to good.
"So farwel Hope, and with Hope farwel Fear,
Farwel Remorse: all Good to me is lost;
Evil be thou my Good;"
(IV, 109-111)
In this intensely dramatic statement, Satan renounces everything that's
good. His is not a lack of intelligence, or weakness of character, very
simply an acceptance of evil. It almost justifies C. S. Lewis' observation.
"What we see in Satan is the horrible co-existence of a subtle and
incessant intellectual activity with an incapacity to understand anything."
Although the statement "Evil be thou my Good," makes no sense on the
surface, it has a symbolic meaning as an expression of Satan's will to
reject the hierarchy of values set before him. In doing so he creates an
illusory world that reflects his adopted values, which he accepts as
reality. His reality is based on hatred. His hatred makes him
psychologically dependant on that he hates, thus making it all the greater.
Throughout the epic Milton dramatizes this dependence among the devils-
even the hatred that gives them their energy is based on that reality which
A Delusion of Satan was written in 1995 by Frances Hill, and published by Da Capo Press. Frances Hill, an accomplished writer and journalist from London, has been writing for a decent period of time. Aside from publishing two novels, Hill has written fiction reviews for The Time (London) and has worked as a reporter in in both New York and London. With such an accomplished journalist, reporter, and writer, we are due to receive a good read in A Delusion of Satan.
While watching Atticus during the trial, Scout learned a lot about her father. She learned that he was more than just an ordinary man to the Negroes. He was defending Tom Robinson, which meant a lot to them, because not many white people in the county would do a thing like that. Very few, if any, white men would defend a black man in a trial in a segregated county during the 1930’s. Because of what Atticus did more people, both white and black, gained respect for him. Scout saw that to the neighborhood people, Atticus was a very wise man, and a very good man, also. While Scout was watching from he balcony, she saw her father do something she had never seen. He told Bob Ewell to write his name on a sheet of paper. Scout saw that Bob was left handed, so he couldn’t have beaten up Mayella, because her black eye was on the right side of her face.
The four words constituting the first line of Inferno 34, however, are and are not Virgil's own words. On the most obvious level, these words are his own in that the text attributes them to him. At the same time, they are not his, since they are a quotation of the first line of a hymn by Venantius Fortunatus.3 And yet, the last word, inferni, must be attributed to Virgil under all respects, for he utters it without borrowing it from the hymn that Venantius Fortunatus wrote in honor of the cross and Christ. Through Virgil, Dante the auctor, therefore, rewrites and parodies this sacred hymn at the conclusion of the infernal cantica exactly when the two wayfarers approach Lucifer.4 Although neither name is mentioned, both are conjured up. Inferno 34 thus begins by invoking a contrastive binomial, Christ and Lucifer.
Everyone has different perspectives and ideas about what Hell is. This is especially true in The Odyssey, The Aeneid, and The Inferno. First, in The Odyssey, Homer’s explanation of Hell was very basic and contained the dead and was very dark and sad. Then, in The Aeneid, Virgil offered a more vivid and descriptive explanation of Hell that also explained that the souls of those who pass are being punished for their sins on Earth. Finally, in The Inferno, Dante presented a disturbing version of Hell and expressed how Hell was divided into sections; each section was dedicated to a certain type of sin. Dante then described the different punishments presented at each different level. While all three epics have different ideas of what describes Hell, there is no doubt that all three epics reiterate the same message that sins expressed on Earth do not go unnoticed. Though Homer’s The Odyssey, Virgil’s The Aeneid, and Dante’s The Inferno all shared the same characteristic of being epic poems and having a Hell or Underworld involved, each book offered different views of what exactly ‘Hell’ was.
The essay written by Elaine Pagels, "The Social History of Satan," illustrates the transformation of Satan from his depiction in the Hebrew Bible to the Gospel's vision of him as a Prince of Darkness who brings about the struggle between good and evil. In her essay, Pagel illustrates the concept of an evil entity and its functions.
Most of us inherited our concept of Satan, and it is saturated in unfounded and fictional beliefs. Kelly does a remarkable job of peeling away the layers of traditional sediment that have accumulated over hundreds of years. Inasmuch as the Satan of the NT is the same Satan of the OT and Christianity is an outgrowth of Judaism, the Satan of today is basically the same old Satan. Kelly, has gave us a good overview of Adam and Eve with the connection with Satan in the Garden of Eden. The author stay on track with his thesis in descripting the story of Adam and Eve. He showed us throughtout that Adam immediate punishment was not death for the sins he committed however, death is the ultimate punishment for sin. The authors, recommendations were
Satan frequently characterizes “the tyranny of heaven” and employs negative diction in his depictions of both heaven and God (I.124). His negative portrayals of God and his kingdom highlight his utter dissatisfaction with being subservient to God and, from that, his desire for autonomy. In the exposition of the text, Satan’s emotions toward God make themselves apparent when Satan “throws his baleful eyes / That witnessed huge affliction and dismay / Mixed with obdúrate pride and steadfast hate” (I.56-58). Satan reveals himself to be furious with his continued subjugation to God as well as his inability to truly revenge himself against his subsequent punishment. According to Satan, God’s dissimulation of his power tempted Satan and others to rise
In Milton's Paradise Lost, he writes the story of the fall of Satan, his followers, and mankind. Many critics often view Satan as the unlikely or tragic hero of the epic poem. Satan is, obviously, the main character throughout most of the poem, but not necessarily the hero. Satan's main purpose is to fight G-d, and try to be on the same level as Him. The important thing is to realize that Satan is sin, and being humans, who are all born into sin, we can easily relate to a sinful character. G-d is holy and perfect. This is something which we, being fallible humans, cannot begin to comprehend. Satan does, at the beginning, follow many of the attributes which coincide with Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero; however, after the first few Books, Satan looses his status as a tragic hero rather rapidly. Along with this, Satan's thoughts parallel the idea of "Evil, be thou my good," (p76, line 110) which is the opposite of what G-d intends.
Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost is a complex character meant to be the evil figure in the epic poem. Whenever possible Satan attempts to undermine God and the Son of God who is the true hero of the story. Throughout the story Milton tells the readers that Satan is an evil character, he is meant not to have any redeeming qualities, and to be shown completely as an unsympathetic figure. Satan’s greatest sins are pride and vanity in thinking he can overthrow God, and in the early part of the poem he is portrayed as selfish while in Heaven where all of God’s angels are loved and happy. Satan’s journey starts out as a fallen angel with great stature, has the ability to reason and argue, but by Book X the anguish and pain he goes through is more reason for him to follow an evil path instead. Even so, Milton uses literal and figurative imagery in the description of Satan’s character to manipulate the reader’s response to the possibility that Satan may actually be a heroic figure. As the plot of the story unfolds there are moments where the reader can identify with Satan’s desires and relate to his disappointments.
Helen Gardner addresses this notion, claiming how “Satan is, of course, a character in an epic, and he is in no sense the hero of the epic as a whole. But he is a figure of heroic magnitude and heroic energy, and he is developed by Milton with dramatic emphasis and dramatic intensity” (Baker/Helen, 208). Satan is without a doubt the antichrist, or “villain” in the biblical scriptures, however one must take into consideration his alternative and more ambiguous portrayal in Paradise Lost. In this paper, I will analyze Satan’s actions, physical portrayal and speeches in Book I of Paradise Lost, and argue that from the textual evidence, these aspects of Satan are ultimately ambivalent, thus Satan cannot be categorized as either the extreme hero or the extreme villain, but rather as a dramatic figure with both heroic and villainous characteristics. The preliminary depiction of Satan’s actions in Paradise Lost appears after Milton describes God, his kingdom of heaven, and his children Adam and Eve.... ...
It is thus that Books I and II of "Paradise Lost" are so unique, as is the alternative, and less-frequently explored world of the devils, is probed in such a. fascinating manner of the story. Milton uses the story of the fallen angels to open up on numerous eras, civilisations, myths and stories, allowing him to convey his own. perception of the world's history, as the reader is guided through various. points in time to be made. Before we are introduced to the individuals, Milton. depicts an enormous army of different species, each of changeable size and.
Milton's introduction of Satan shows the reader how significant Satan is to Paradise Lost. He uses Satan's heroic qualities to his followers, and his ability to corrupt to show the thin line between good and evil. Satan was one of the highest angels in Heaven and was know as Lucifer, meaning, light bearer. This shows he was once a good angel. Milton makes the reader see him as a leader and a strong influence to all in his presence. He best describes Satan's ways when stating, "His pride/ had cast him out from Heaven, with all his host. / Of rebel angels, by whose aspiring/ To set himself in glory above his peers" (Milton Book I). Satan's pride was the main reason that God banned him from heaven. Satan always tried to be number one and a leader, instead of following in God's shadow. He would of lived a life in Paradise forever, but he had to follow his feelings as he states, "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven" (Milton 31). This shows how strongly he felt about not being above everybody else.
After Satan is worshipped by the other fallen angels, he begins his journey to the new land. He notices that there are nine gates of Hell and approaches the one guarded by Sin and Death. After convincing them to open the gate , he continues on to find Chaos, Night, Confusion, Discord and a few others. He once again uses his rhetorical skills to convince Chaos to show him the way to Earth. Now that he knows where he is going he continues the difficult journey : " So he with difficulty and labour hard/Mov’d on, with difficulty and labour hee;" (1021-1022). Satan will stop at nothing to get to Earth. Milton 's description of Satan 's journey shows us his determination and his intelligence . Even God takes account of Satan 's drive and mentions it to the Son
The identity of the true protagonist in Paradise Lost is a mystery. One would gather that Milton, a Puritan, would have no problem casting God as the hero, and Satan as the antagonist. However, looking back in history, Milton saw that most epic heroes had conflicts that prevented them from accomplishing their goals. God and his Son have no conflict, and Adam’s story does not really begin until the Fall of Man. Therefore, Milton was forced to select Satan as the hero of Paradise Lost because he adheres to the guidelines of epic poetry set by Homer, Virgil and others. There are many examples of how Milton uses and edits the tradition of these previous epics in the formation of the Devil as a hero. One of the most basic examples of heroism in epic poetry is the exhortation of the leader to his followers. In The Odyssey, Homer lets Odysseus give a speech that would convince anyone they could survive the journey to the Strait of Messina, "Then we die with our eyes open, if we are going to die, or know what death we baffle if we can. (Ln.1243-1245)" After passing the Sirens, the ship approaches the Strait, and the crew sees the twin terrors of Scylla and Charybdis, they are mortified. Odysseus again lifts their spirits with this speech, "Friends, have we ever been in danger before this? More fearsome, is it now, than when the Cyclops penned us in his cave? What power he had! Did I not keep my nerve, and use my wits to find a way out for us?
Paradise Lost is one of the finest examples of the epic tradition in all of literature. In composing this extraordinary work, John Milton was, for the most part, following in the manner of epic poets of past centuries: Barbara Lewalski notes that Paradise Lost is an "epic whose closest structural affinities are to Virgil's Aeneid . . . "; she continues, however, to state that we now recognize as well the influence of epic traditions and the presence of epic features other than Virgilian. Among the poem's Homeric elements are its Iliadic subject, the death and woe resulting from an act of disobedience; the portrayal of Satan as an Archillean hero motivated by a sense of injured merit and also as an Odyssean hero of wiles and craft; the description of Satan's perilous Odyssey to find a new homeland; and the battle scenes in heaven. . . . The poem also incorporates a Hesiodic gigantomachy; numerous Ovidian metamorphoses; an Ariostan Paradise of Fools; [and] Spenserian allegorical figures (Sin and Death) . . . . (3)