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Character analysis of satan in paradise lost
Analyze the character of satan in paradise lost
Character analysis of satan in paradise lost
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Some things don’t stay in hell. The touch of Lucifer plagues the unholy doctor’s heart. Like all humans, born to sin, Victor Frankenstein digs his own hole into hell. William Hazlitt’s lecture on Milton’s Paradise Lost clarifies the essence of Lucifer, Satan in the text, as a being of pride and willpower, not malignity and chaos. Frankenstein, possessing the same traits, seeks to become a god of his own. However, he cannot stop fate. The troubled mad man could not help playing God; Frankenstein’s pride will prove to be his own damnation when the horrendous creation rips apart his Eden. Lucifer is embodiment of pride and zeal, and man—like his eldest brother—follows instinctively. Unable to respect or obey God’s ruling, Lucifer falls from …show more content…
Upon giving into his obsession, Frankenstein manages to stay afloat on the river of madness. He succeeds in avoiding drowning, with pride, his life jacket, and his boat, desire. However, he reaches the end of the river. There, over the river, hangs a monstrous waterfall. Frankenstein abandons his desires and jumps ship. The only thing that keeps him alive is his pride and inability to accept the horror of his zealous obsession. However, this is also the key to the door leading to the razing of his Garden of Eden. The bitter hate towards his creation assists Frankenstein’s inability to swallow his pride. He refuses to realize that the end does not always justify the means. Yes, Frankenstein did become God, able to create life. However, his means were villainous and vile. Machiavelli does not have hold here. Ultimately, humans are creatures of sin, and transitively, their nature proves similar. An aspect that stands out is pride. Like Lucifer, Victor refuses to surrender to the antagonistic entity, unable to accept the bare reality. Lucifer is unable to bow down to humans, and Victor to the Creature. Humans are power hungry and prideful creatures, their will unopposed. But Lucifer of Paradise Lost is also a being of pride. The father of pride, in essence. Human and demon alike, Victor and Lucifer use pride to ignore the negative consequences of their choices and the actions of their
As Frankenstein is enroute to his pursuit of gaining more knowledge, he states, “I wished, as it were, to procrastinate all that related to my feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit of my nature, should be completed” (Shelley 41). Frankenstein’s decision in allowing his intellectual ambitions to overpower everything else in his life leads him to be blinded to the dangers of creating life. He isolates himself from his society when creating the monster, letting himself be immersed in his creation while being driven by his passions, allowing nobody to be near him. The fact that he allows this creation of a monster to consume his total being reveals how blinded he is to the immorality of stepping outside the boundaries of science and defying nature. His goal in striving to achieve what wants to in placing man over nature makes him lose his sense of self as all he is focused on is the final product of his creation. He starts to realize his own faults as after he has created the monster, he becomes very ill and states, “The form of the monster on whom I had bestowed existence was forever before my eyes, and I raved incessantly concerning him” (48). His impulsive decision to make the monster leads him to abhorring it as it does not turn out to be what he has expected. Because he chooses to isolate himself in creating the
Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, illustrates the Romantic idea of the sublime naturalworld as an emotional experience for the characters of the novel. Within the text, Shelleyutilizes an allusion to the John Milton’s biblical story, Paradise Lost, to make a parallel betweenthe characters. Within the passage, the monster compares himself, as well as his creator, Victor,to the characters Adam and Satan. He comes to realize that he is more similar to Satan;ultimately, leading him to his reign of terror and the revenge he wishes to impose on Victor. Themonster realizes that he is similar to Adam in Paradise Lost in that they both do not want to bealone. The monster also realizes that there is good in the world that is deeply contrasted with
The most important religious comparison in Frankenstein, are the outstanding similarities between Victor as God and the monster as Lucifer. This idea is proven by the monster in the quote where he states, " I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed." Broken down, this quote shows us that the monster feels that he is the neglected creation and that he has been created to be unhappy, although he has committed no wrongdoing, and he doesn't deserve to be mistreated by society. As it goes in the bible, God created Lucifer as the most brilliant and beautiful angel in the sky with good intentions, but Lucifer turned his back on his creator and began a notorious streak of evil as the "malignant devil." Now if the role of God is switched with that of Victor, and the role of Lucifer is switched with that of the monster, the story is retold in almost the same context. Now to prove that this is not just farfetched speculation, the monster even says in his quote that he ought to be Adam, God's successful creation, rather than the fallen angel (Lucifer). Among other quotes in which the monster deigns Victor as [his] creator, this is a powerful novel reference and this quote beautifully shows the direct motif of religious role-playing in Frankenstein.
In the book, the Monster is searching for a way to fit in and find acceptance, so, the Monster turns to reading the bible. It gives the Monster a small sense of solace and he interprets many of the passages to help him define who he is what his role in this world might be. The Monster of "Frankenstein" finally admits that he is but a creature of Victor and says, "I ought to be thy Adam but I am rather the fallen angel" (Shelley, 2000). There is a dual allusion present in this quotation. One is referring to in John Milton's classic Paradise Lost, a tale which is often mentioned in Shelley's "Frankenstein." The other is undoubtedly the Creation of Adam and Eve in the Bible itself, not just the allusion given in Paradise Lost. The aforementioned quotation illustrates the very idea that creation through science is a hollow, damning pursuit as the Monster seems himself for what he is perceived to be.
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...
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, explores the monstrous and destructive affects of obsession, guilt, fate, and man’s attempt to control nature. Victor Frankenstein, the novel’s protagonist and antihero, attempts to transcend the barriers of scientific knowledge and application in creating a life. His determination in bringing to life a dead body consequently renders him ill, both mentally and physically. His endeavors alone consume all his time and effort until he becomes fixated on his success. The reason for his success is perhaps to be considered the greatest scientist ever known, but in his obsessive toil, he loses sight of the ethical motivation of science. His production would ultimately grieve him throughout his life, and the consequences of his undertaking would prove disastrous and deadly. Frankenstein illustrates the creation of a monster both literally and figuratively, and sheds light on the dangers of man’s desire to play God.
Like a child longs for a mother’s love, the monster longs for the love of his creator. When the monster was first created, Victor says that the monster looked at him “while a grin wrinkled his cheeks.” The monster looks at Victor with love and instead of receiving love in return, he receives complete rejection. The monster cannot understand why his own creator does not love him like God loved Adam. The monster believes he should be like Adam but is “rather the fallen angel.” God made man in his own image and loved Adam even with his flaws. Yet, victor made “a monster so hideous that [Victor] turned from [his creation] in disgust.” This rejection from Victor makes the monster angry and
Victor Frankenstein is the protagonist and the narrator of the main story in Frankenstein. Raised by doting parents, Victor confesses: “I was their plaything and their idol, and something better-their child, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by Heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me.” (35) This statement condemns his later reckless and arrogant behavior. Victor was obsessed from an early age with natural philosophy and the ultimate knowledge of life. He sought answers to the many questions that puzzled great minds before him. Motivated by ambition and an insatiable quest to be God like and create life, Victor dedicated himself to this one pursuit for nearly two years. The creature, which was made out of old body parts stolen from the cemetery, strange chemicals, and a mysterious spark, convulsed to life. In this moment, Victor becomes a creator of a human life, the “God” to a being that was deserving of the attention and love of its creator.
Imagine being brought into the world to be completely thrown away by whoever created you, for being born. Now, this is the perspective of the Monster that Frankenstein created. The Monster was immediately hated as soon as he came to life. His own creator found him to be repulsive: “ I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” Pg 59 PP 3. This hatred caused the monster to feel awful and run away in despair. Victor Frankenstein felt that he was justified to give up on his creation because it was ugly. This is completely unfair to the Monster because it has not done anything wrong, yet Victor Frankenstein feels he has the right to immediately turn his back on his creation. This is something that is frowned upon in society, but is sometimes the case. If this betrayal had not have happened, the Monsters nature could have been completely different. The Monster merely acted out because he was so greatly betrayed. In all honesty, the monster had good intentions in his heart, and he had a great soul. This great soul became diminished by the instant rejection as soon as he came to life. Now the Monster tried to keep it's spirits high but then things just seemed to get worse for him. Once the Monster
Throughout the text of Milton’s Paradise Lost, we can see many instances of binary relationships connecting separate conceptual ideas. The construction of "authorship" in the poem exists as a good example of just such a relationship. This theme incorporates two very different ideas in the poem, and is central to the understanding of issues concerning the creation and use of power.
In Frankenstein, Shelley creates two very complex characters. They embody the moral dilemmas that arise from the corruption and disturbance of the natural order of the world. When Victor Frankenstein is attending school, he becomes infatuated with creating a living being and starts stealing body parts from morgues around the university. After many months of hard work, he finishes one stormy night bringing his creation to life. However, “now that [Victor] had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled [his] heart” (Chambers). Right after Victor realizes what he has done, he falls into deep depression and must be nursed back to health by his friend. Victor spends the rest of the story facing consequences and moral problems from creating unnatural life. When he realizes that the ‘monster’ has killed his brother, even though no one believes him, he feels responsible for his brother’s murder because he was responsible for the existence of the ‘monster’. Also feeling responsible, Victor...
Wicked, dishonorable, corrupt, villainous, malicious, and vicious all have one thing in common: they define evil. A person or a group of people that display these qualities are often to be defined as evil beings or creatures. Two people that have many of these characteristics developed within them are Iago from Shakespeare’s Othello and Lucifer from the Bible. Both Iago and Lucifer are developed with many “evil” qualities woven intricately into their character development. The representation of each “evil” characteristic gives them something they have in common allowing the description and portrayal of both Iago and Lucifer in literature show the audience they share common “evil” characteristics and that they lead to chaos and downfall.
Although the epic poem centers around the story of the fall of man, it is interesting that Milton intertwines in this story the fall of Satan from heaven and the consequences it has not only for Satan himself, but for Adam, Eve, and the world as a whole. Milton allows the reader to see the fall from the point of view of Satan, God, as well as Adam and Eve. Because Milton gives insight into these characters feelings regarding the fall, it is no surprise that he uses “eternal providence” in conjunction with the stories of Satan, Adam, and Eve. The providence being described here is the knowledge of good and evil. However, ev...
In Milton’s Paradise Lost, the readers are presented the perspective side of Satan to the biblical story, Adam and Eve. Over the past centuries, there have been numerous stories about Adam and Eve, but there was never a view from the devil himself, Satan. Satan started as a confused and angry person in the beginning. As the story progressed, Satan’s character became stronger and powerful. Toward the middle of the story, Satan acted almost as a political figure; he knew when and what to say to persuade other angels to follow him. Some reader suggests that Satan is the protagonist of the story because he struggled to combat his mistrusts and weaknesses. Nonetheless this goal was evil and Adam and Eve turned out to be the pure heroes at the end of the story while they help begin to fix humankind’s evil fate. There are several reasons why Milton focused so much Satan and gave him all the good lines.
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)