In Paradise Lost, John Milton constantly fidgets with the notions of good and evil. Because of this perpetual play, Milton establishes good and evil as constantly shifting forces that both God and Satan seem to utilize in opposition to each other. The conflicting discourse between the two forces redefines Heaven’s God as a being capable of evil, and Hell’s Satan as a creature seemingly capable of good. At every moment, good and evil find the occasion to switch heroes, leaving them as forces in a continuously reconceived state. It seems though that good becomes capable of what seems to be evil, more than evil is capable of what seems to be good. More often in the story, God performs actions that place him in a position that makes …show more content…
Regardless, Milton draws condolences from readers when Lucifer, now Satan, is cast out of Heaven with a third of the angels into the abysses of Hell. Satan then has only one option: acceptance. There is no grace left for him, even if he chooses to repent. He even expresses that he knows he would rebel again if given the chance to be back in Heaven, second in line, in a position of subordination. So, Satan chooses to be evil, if God is good—“Evil, be thou my Good!”(Paradise Lost 4: 110). By addressing evil, by even knowing the word “evil”, Satan acknowledges the pre-existent construct that God has utilized against him. By this equation, good and God/evil and Satan, Milton establishes the concepts of good and evil as an impermanent construct that is nothing more than an arbitrary byproduct of events and choices. Even the creation of Lucifer in Book Five is a paradox. God essentially speaks creation into existence, and at the very moment God speaks the Son and happiness into existence, he speaks his new enemy Lucifer into opposition to good:
And by my Self have sworn to him shall bow
All knees in Heav’n, and shall confess him Lord;…
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This paradox flirts with Milton’s language of evil: hate in Heaven; Hell and Heaven; Sin,
Satan, Son, Serpent. By toying with alliteration, Milton’s construct of evil has taken on an entirely new demeanor, something playful and inoffensive, and extremely attractive to
Eve. But hate is not a force that Satan alone subscribes to, for God and the Son are also capable of hate; the Son says to the Father at one point “ Whom thou hat’st, I hate”
(Paradise Lost 6: 734). Adam responds to Raphael’s story like a child would to a fairytale. He is more concerned with how it all began, rather than heeding Raphael’s warning of the same enemy of God that will become a danger to them. Cleverly, at the beginning lines of Book Seven, Milton addresses his audience like Raphael addresses
Adam, trying to warn readers of the dangers of intrusive evil while they are distracted with Satan’s misfortunes. The difference in speech between Satan and Raphael serves as a point of interest for this good/evil debate. Raphael is an angel, who has never experienced evil, lest
Lucifer in other words knows as Satan had three faces, three sets of wings attached, each face had two eyes in which constantly shed tears, each mouth also chewed a sinner. To illustrate, in Canto 34 it states, “ When I beheld three faces on his head! The one in the front vermilion was, two were the others, that were joined with this above the middle part of either shoulder And They joined together as a crest” ( Pg. 47. line 36). Moving forward, Lucifer is the biggest sinner because he was once an angel and he was no longer that angel because he went behind Jesus back and perform acts that Jesus nor God would permit. To show, “ in Canto 34 it states, “ The creature who once had the beauteous semblance” (Pg. 47 Line 18). To explain, Lucifer is the angel who rebelled against
Evil seems to always get the bad side of things since it always gets conquered
verses evil, the monster is meant to be evil but we as the reader feel
...ation of the text reveals that the two are actually opposites of each other. Most significantly, Satan is a grotesque inversion of the sacred Trinity seen in God.
The struggle between good and evil, the rewards of Heaven, and the consequences of sin are all Christian themes shared in the works of Hildegard, Dante, and Milton. While their works vary in style and substance, they are informed by a common religious background and understanding. Hildegard’s Ordo Virtutum, Dante’s Inferno, and Milton’s Paradise Lost all have a common character in Satan. Satan in both the Ordo Virtutum and Inferno appears in a significant, but limited role. In Paradise Lost, Satan is a primary character and expresses a full range of traits and provokes a wide range of responses from the audience.
The story of good vs. evil is one that dates back to the beginning of time itself. In the epic Beowulf this is no different; the forces of good and evil are in constant conflict with each other. Beowulf, the good hero, is “praised over and over again” for his glorious and continued victories over the forces of evil (Heaney: Celebration at Heorot: 131). On the other hand, the evil characters, such as Grendel and Grendel’s mother, are not only “malignant by nature”, but also constantly terrorize the citizens near them, defiantly rebelling against the forces of good. (Heaney: Heorot Is Attacked :131). Grendel is a demon, the descendant of the cursed Cain from Biblical times, is seen as the embodiment of evil, and none but Beowulf can overpower
The lines that define good and evil are not written in black and white; these lines tend to blur allowing good and evil to intermingle with each another in a single human being.
This document gives a history into the image of Satan and a light anthology of him. This text will instrumental in the metaphysical discernment of this essay.
The poem Paradise Lost by John Milton tells the epic story of Satan's demise and the fall of Adam and Eve. Satan, disgraced and in hell after a war between his devils and God's angels, works to destroy the purity and good of God's newly created Earth. As he schemes, Adam and Eve live in perpetual peace and happiness in the Garden of Eden as rulers of the Earth. Throughout the progression of the epic, it becomes evident that Eve and Satan contain many similarities. The correlations between these two characters help the reader understand why they act the way they do but also see the devastating consequences of those actions. Eve and Satan are both tempters and use the same arguments to persuade their victims; they also hold subordinate positions and want to elevate their statuses.
Milton shows that the potential for evil was innate in these beings and was not the result of corruption from an external force. Lucifer believes himself to be God’s equal and desires omnipotence for himself. Lucifer’s pride is his undoing, and he is cast into hell where he becomes Satan. The pride is intrinsic to Lucifer’s nature and results from God giving angels free will. Indeed, Satan later considers repenting and seeking God’s forgiveness upon seeing Earth and all of God’s creation and being overwhelmed by emotion. However, he realizes that even if he did receive forgiveness, he would grow dissatisfied with his position in heaven once again and fall a second time “book four quote “ . This establishes evil as being a constant part of Satan; the evil could not exist without the good, but it is an inherent part of
Milton uses Satan as an example that even the angels have free will and can choose whether or not to serve God. Satan describes himself as an angel who fell victim to the vices of jealousy and pride and chose to become like God instead of basking in his glory. Satan, who was created by God, naturally has free will and chooses evil as his path, falling from glory. While creating hell does not seem to initially be part of God’s plan, he must now accommodate for the choices of the fallen angels and creates this as the lowest point of his world. After being banished from heaven, Satan reflects on his evil deeds and considers the option of redeeming himself before God. However, he realizes that he has come too far in his desire to become God’s equal and he commits to his evil ways. He is constantly confronted with choices throughout Paradise Lost and enacts his free will in rejecting God, accepting evil, and striving to become equally powerful over his own
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.
Interpreting Satan’s rant, he says that everyone has their own mind. Whether or not they’re in Heaven or hell physically, they can make it feel as another mentally. He also questions what makes God any greater than him or him any less that God. Satan figures at least he is free to roam and rule in Hell. In his mind, being king is more important, even if it is in Hell. He also believes that by no means can God drive them away from their throne in Hell.
In present day, Satan is more often referred to as the Devil. The word derived, via the ecclesiastical Latin diabolus, from the Greek diabolos, an adjective meaning “slanderous.'; This was also used in ancient Greek as a noun to identify a person as a slanderer. The term was utilized in the Greek translation of the Bible, the Septuagint, not to refer to human beings, but rather to translate the Hebrew ha-Satan (“the Satan';). It was an expression originally used as the title of a member of the divine court who functioned as God’s roving spy, gathering intelligence about human beings from his travels on earth (Pagels 10-11). God’s Word clearly teaches the reality of Satan. He is presented as an evil entity that affects humanity by his actions. Details about him are available in the Bible, but the facts are distributed throughout the text in such a way that one must diligently search and study to gain a rudimentary understanding of Satan’s status and goals.
Ask anyone to draw Satan and you 'll get a red snake-like figure with horns and a pitchfork. Satan, as introduced in the Hebrew bible is an unworthy adversary of God. His longing to be like God is quickly recognized and dealt with. God banishes him from Heaven and sends him to Hell. That 's the last we see of him until he talks with God about his faithful servant Job. In each interaction we see Satan in, we get only a glimpse of who he really is. Satan 's motive is not developed and we assume he does evil simply because he is evil