Is Satan A Villian Or A Hero

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Satan: Hero or Villian
If I was to ask people on the street about Satan I doubt many would call him a hero. This has been an argument among readers of “Paradise Lost” for decades. At first Satan can be seen as a hero but throughout the story it becomes more and more obvious that he is anything but.
Before being able to decide if Satan truly is a hero or not, you must look at both sides. A hero by definition is a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character. Some people will say he is a hero because he embarked on a courageous mission to destroy Gods creation when no other out casted angel would. Others will say he isn’t one because how can a hero be a hero when their whole goal is to destroy something? Maybe the question is purely …show more content…

This allows the reader to understand and sympathize with him for being sentenced to hell. Satan says living in hell is better than serving in heaven, “Whom Thunder hath made greater? Here at least, We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built, Here for his envy, will not drive us hence, Here we may reign secure, and in my choyce, To reign is worth ambition though in Hell, Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n.”(John Milton 1667) This can sway readers to believing that maybe he is a victim to Gods rule and eventually we see him as a hero who starts to make his way through chaos to find earth and free his self and his followers. Along the way to destroying Gods creation we can see Satan have a hard time with his revenge pan because everywhere he looks he sees something that brings his reminders of heaven and feelings that could be seen as a good thing. For example when Satan sees innocence “And should I at your harmless innocence Melt, as I doe”(John Milton 1667) Being able to see this side of him opens up the possibility if Satan being the hero a little more. Anyone who has read a book about heroes knows that they go above and beyond to save the day which is kind of what Satan does in the eyes of the other outcast angels who look up to him. The readers being able to see Satan as a hero and leader in his own world full of villains enables them to view him as a hero in Gods

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