John Milton's Paradise Lost John Milton’s Paradise Lost is filled with fantastical tales from the depths of Hell, extravagant descriptions of the fallen angels, and a curious recitation of the council of demons in their new palace. How did Milton dream up such vivid depictions of such horrible demons as the ones we see in Book I? Most of his fallen angels originate in the form of Pagan gods condemned by the Bible, with actual historical backgrounds which Milton cites in his lengthy descriptions. Firstly, a few words about Satan would seem prudent, as he is the first of the fallen angels, the leader in the revolt, and the first to venture to earth to corrupt mankind. He is Milton’s main character, and the only one to extend outside of strict biblical interpretations of his character. He appears first in the Bible (if you discount the snake in the Garden of Eden) in the Book of Job, in which he convinces God to test Job by taking away all his worldly possessions and bringing harm to himself and his family. He is addressed with the angels and named as Satan, so his status as an angel who helps bring pain and suffering is no stretch from the ‘biblical truth’. Old Testament Books such as Isaiah and Ezekiel refer to what appears to be Satan, but are in the midst of passages that reflect upon wicked, fallen kings. In Isaiah 14:12 it is written, “how you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” Most speculation is that this directly refers to Satan, although in no other passage is he referred to as Lucifer. The passage is actually concerning a Babylonian king, as is Ezekiel 28:14-15, which laments (for the King of Tyre), “you were the anointed cherub… till iniquity was found in you.” These passages are about wick... ... middle of paper ... ...of the Memphian Kings (Egyptian Pharoah’s at the great city of Memphis) who built the Great Pyramids, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but whose city Memphis sustained much damage throughout the years (the city decayed and the capital eventually moved to Thebes). These are the players of Milton’s epic of light and darkness, good and evil, Heave, Hell, and everything in between. Expounding upon popular beliefs of Satan and his rogue angels and borrowing Pagan gods from old Palestine and Jordan enable the creation of almost Protagonist demons. Though it’s easy to relate to Satan as a rebellious child dealing with punishment, the poem preaches that you strictly obey God. God is omnipotent, omniscient (he even sees Satan’s approach from the depths of Hell), he has conquered countless false and pagan gods, his word is not to be questioned as Adam and Eve did.
Satan is the core of Milton’s master piece and no matter how he is interpreted; the overall complexity of his character cannot be overlooked.
Historically, it has been the character of Satan who is defined as the hero of Milton's epic, one who was defined by the Romantics as a 'tragic-hero'. At the beginning of the poem he is presented as one with an iron fast will, who will overcome his challenges in order to gain a victory, like the heroes of the classical epics. Upon waking up, cast out of Heaven by God, Satan's first action is to attempt to rally his troops, defiantly proclaiming that they can “make a heav...
In John Milton’s, The Paradise Lost, Milton’s representation of Satan makes us uncomfortable due to the recognition of his humanizing and relatable reaction to what happened to him. The reader expects Satan to be an evil, and malevolent figure who does evil acts because he loves it and there is no defense for it. While these aspects are prevalent in his character in the poem, Satan does not come across as a completely wicked person but instead, a victim. The representation of Satan has a personifying quality that any of us may have and do not want to admit. In book one, Milton’s portrayal of Satan makes us uneasy because we relate to his actions, which are ordinary human responses to similar situations. It is troubling to say that in this particular poem, Satan resembles humans. However, our human nature is to have an instant reflex to justify our actions without taking any responsibility, which resembles the way Satan justifies his mischievous acts in this poem. Most of the time, we would never think of Satan as a victim; yet, we find ourselves discovering our human nature in Satan’s rationalizations. So, what humanizes this monstrous figure? After thoroughly reading book one, there are many instances when Satan justifies what he has done to make sense of it. Satan believes that God deceived him because he did not know how much power he possessed. According to Satan, God did unjust things that justified his actions. Satan has a whole rationale that God had arbitrary power that caused Satan to become the way he is in the poem. This perception serves as Satan’s foundation on behalf of his justification, which we all can relate to because he does not take responsibility but pr...
In Milton’s Paradise Lost, Milton characterizes himself as a prophet in order to encourage us to listen to God’s order and turn away from our evil. As one becomes aware of Milton’s prophetic intentions, one recognizes how Milton uses Satan and his reaction to his downfall with God as a way to lead us to think of our own human sins and experience. Milton’s characterization of Satan’s envious, jealous, prideful and rebellious nature while battling God allows us to see Satan as mirror reflection of our own selves. By characterizing Satan, an evil icon, as a being with human flaws, Milton encourages us to see our own weaknesses in order to turn away from these sins.
Milton prompts the reader to understand God’s grace as the most almighty and powerful aspect within the first twenty-six lines. God is a powerful ruler who bestows blessings if his policies are followed and eternal damnation if not. The first two books of Paradise Lost portray Satan as a confused, resentful man who feels the need to rebel against God. Since Satan rebelled against God, he was banished from heaven and summoned into an eternal hell. While in hell, Satan gathered his fallen angels for a pep talk and exclaimed to them, “Farewell, happy fields, where joy forever dwell; in my choice to reign is worth ambition though in Hell” (Book 1, Line 1). In this exclamation Satan bids adieu to the pleasure and blissful surroundings of paradise and greets the gloom and dreadfulness that now surround him with open arms. The reader can conclude that Milton relays Satan’s speech as remorseful and full of regret at the penalty of his rebellious actions, but accepts what he has done and is ready to rule the underworld. The reader can also note one difference between Satan and God in this passage because unlike God, Satan chose to speak to all who follow him and wanted their feedback for his rebellious plans. Satan continues his speech by adding, “Receive thy new possessor. Not to be changed by place or time” (Book 1, Line 1). Satan is regulating his mental perception as he greets Hell. He portrays himself as equipped and ready for Hell to receive him as the leader. Like God, Satan brought his autonomous mentality, free of time or location, to Hell. As the new supreme leader of the underworld, with his independent mind, Satan boldly compares himself to God through the element of
After God created the Earth and mankind, all was right in the Holy kingdom. That is until, a friend, the bearer of light, the morning star fell in battle and ultimately in darkness. This fateful battle made true everything we know and live now. Milton and Dante play on this every concept in two very different ways, for Milton a cunning reflection of man and for Dante an animalisitic dunce. Milton and Dante use the Bible stories as a backdrop for their epic poems of love and of loss wherein a single unique character, a bearer of light is made to reverberate humanity and the supreme basic darkness that is the soul of man, one can note these key elements vis-a-vis his appearance, domain and the influence of Lucifer.
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
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.
For starters, we can compare current government affairs in our society to the political context used in Paradise Lost. When reading Milton’s work as a political allegory, the situations in the epic can be aligned with modern day government in our society. The various speeches given by Satan are a prime example of a significant political voice. Much like citizens tune in to the president’s state of the union address, Satan uses similar techniques during his speeches that emphasize his political perspective. Satan addressing the fallen angels:
After defeating the rebellious angels, God cast them out from Heaven, placing them in Hell, a despairing and horrid place. Satan describes God as a tyrant who believes himself better than all, placing God as his epic adversary, “...our grand Foe/Who now triumphs, and in the excess of joy/Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heaven” (1.122-124). Satan refuses to accept his defeat, and rather seeks to enact revenge against God either by once again leading his minions into battle or using his guile.
..., Adam and Eve. There are several reasons why Milton focused so much Satan and gave him all the good lines. First, Milton portrayed Satan to be a leader with confident because he is the king of hell. By portraying Satan as a leader, readers can see he was noble to his allies and thus offering to risk himself to achieve his goal. Second, the moral aspect of this characterization is that anyone can become Satan, and evil is something everyone can slip into, which was why Milton portrayed Satan to be human like. Lastly, Milton showed the subject of redemption to human kind and how hard it is for people to own up for their mistakes. Since Satan was characterized with human like qualities, he did believe in redemption, but instead of redeeming himself to God he went the other direction by doing evil acts. All in all, there is a little Satan in every human.
Passage I appears in Book I of Paradise Lost, lines 254-263. The narrator, Satan, is boasting, along with his friend Beelzebub, lord of the flies, about how is it better to be the ruler in hell than serve God in Heaven. It all started when Satan awoken in Hell from being thrown out of Heaven. Many angels had joined Satan and thus started the war with God. Realizing what happened, Satan goes on a rant to Beelzebub, telling him how he will never bow down to God.
Mankind lives in a physical, tangible, material world, which is influenced by the invisible, spiritual world around us. The present day spiritual world is just as existent as it was nearly two thousand years ago when Lord Jesus walked the earth. The Old and New Testaments reveal to us from time to time, glimpses of this spiritual world. These Testaments provide us with the most factual information regarding Satan. Unfortunately, many have been misinformed and do not thoroughly comprehend Satan’s origin and what his purpose concerning the spiritual and physical world. There is a great need to set the record straight regarding Satan especially in our hour with its present angel craze, channeling and a belief in spirit guides. I chose Satan as the subject of my paper because I am one who does not thoroughly comprehend who he is and what his purpose in both the spiritual and physical world is.
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.
Throughout Paradise Lost, Milton uses various tools of the epic to convey a traditional and very popular Biblical story. He adds his own touches to make it more of an epic and to set forth new insights into God's ways and the temptations we all face. Through his uses of love, war, heroism, and allusion, Milton crafted an epic; through his references to the Bible and his selection of Christ as the hero, he set forth a beautifully religious Renaissance work. He masterfully combined these two techniques to create a beautiful story capable of withstanding the test of time and touching its readers for centuries.