Discuss Milton’s presentation of Satan in Paradise Lost

Discuss Milton’s presentation of Satan in Paradise Lost

There has been considerable critical interest in the figure of Satan in Paradise Lost,

and in the possibility that he may be the true hero of the epic poem. The opening of

the poem finds Milton in a tough spot: writing an epic poem without an epic hero in

sight. In order to achieve a rationally balanced poem, he wants to let the first half rise from Hell through Chaos and towards Heaven, thereby balancing the fall of

humankind in the following Garden scenes. Since Satan is the only point of view

(other than God above) that witnesses all of these early scenes, he must be

transformed into the hero for the first few books. Besides allowing Milton to add new

scenes to the story which is crucial, since all his readers already know the general idea

of it, making Satan temporarily heroic makes his subsequent evil deeds that much

more appalling to the reader.

One of Milton’s early biographers, his nephew Edward Phillips, asserted that

it was Milton’s original intention to write a tragic drama on the subject of the fall. He

claims to have seen a speech by Satan (now Book IV lines 32-41) some years before

the publication of Paradise Lost. The attractiveness of Satan and the genesis of

Paradise Lost as a drama are to some extent interwoven. It is a critical fact that in

drama, the audience is lead to believe in the first voice they hear, especially if that

voice speaks directly to the audience. R.C. Jones (1986: P.56) demonstrates how this

principle operates in Renaissance plays such as Shakespeare’s Richard III. One

reason why there is any case for regarding Satan as the hero of the poem is that we

learn his version of events first, and by the end of Book II, w...

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...t all the characters Milton needs to the proper places at the proper

time in the narrative. The delicate way in which he holds the character of Satan

poised between heroic and villainous acts during his physical ascent and spiritual fall

makes use of the full gamut of poetic devices, including allusion, metaphor,

hyperbole, diction, and more a tricky juggling act of character development, until he

is ready to let the ball drop.

Bibliography

Bradley, S.A.J. (1992). Anglo-Saxon Poetry. Everyman.

Burden, Dennis. (1967). The Logical Epic. Routledge.

Jones, R.C. (1988). Engagement with Knavery. Duke University Press. Durham. England.

Milton, John. (1998). Paradise Lost. Penguin. England.

Waldock, A.J.A. (1947). Paradise Lost and its Critics. Cambridge University Press.

Wittreich, Joseph, ed. (1970). The Romantics on Milton. Cleveland Press. USA.