Satan Character Analysis

The reader’s distaste for Satan is strengthened by Satan’s shift in motives. The conquering of humans, which he originally presented as a rebellion against God and his authoritative rule, later came to be about pure corruption and hate. It’s therefore possible to say that if Satan had never given up on his original reasoning, he would still be the hero of Paradise Lost. Works Cited # Milton, John. “Paradise Lost.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature.

When Paradise Lost begins, the vainglorious actions of Satan have resulted in his removal from heaven and placed him on the path to exact revenge against those who have done so. Though, the reader is hardly able to experience any distaste when reading about this man who opposes the consented force of good. He is are charming, dark, fanatical and desperate in his attempts. It is from these characteristics, that the reader may be swayed into viewing him as the protagonist (or even the hero) of the tale. Even C.S.

When a person hears Satan, a streak of fear, and the thought of evil arises. People fear Satan, and think of him as evil, but in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, he displays a thought of the Father being the evil being, and Satan a tragic hero. In Paradise Lost, Book 1 and 2, the minor areas where God is shown, He is displayed as hypocritical. He contradicts himself by creating the humans to be of free will, but when Satan displays free will, he is shunned. Satan could be described in many terms, and by many people, but all can be disputed.

Satan’s envious nature plagues personality; he soon establishes himself as an empowered rebel. In order to mimic and rival the authority of God, Satan immediately establishes himself in a position of power by claiming the role as the leader of the fallen. As a leader Satan exhibits the audacity of self-confidence, he claims “to be weak is miserable doing or suffering” (line 158). His claim is so commanding that the other fallen angels awaken from their state of mental unconsciousness. Satan position as an empowered rebel is illustrated through his infernal mind, and it’s craving for authority; accordingly, Satan urges the shattered forces to “Receive thy new possessor” (line 252).

Satan states: "How such united force of gods, how such /
As stood like these, co... ... middle of paper ... ...pportive of him, later reveal his truly destructive character, resulting in the reader disliking Satan. Accordingly, when the character of Satan is followed throughout Paradise Lost, Milton`s reason behind the order of development can be realized. Milton’s desire to create a strong hatred of Satan is achieved best by emphasizing Satan’s good points first. Then, when Satan’s real character begins to surface, the reader is shocked by the actions of their ‘hero’, causing them to dislike him more than if he had always been a bad character. The reader’s dislike of Satan is strengthened by Satan’s shift in motives.

He has the faults and doubts associated with humanity rather than being a character of pure evil who operates in a dichotomic black and white world. In Paradise Lost, Satan is envious, prideful, angry, rebellious, argumentative, and manipulative. He envies the son of God’s position and with clever argumentation convinces others to follow him in a rebellion against God. He manipulates others to get what he wants, such as when he convinces Eve to eat the fruit or when he lets Belzebuth present what is his own plan to convince the other dwellers of Hell to follow it. Despite all those traits, Satan is seen as having glimpses of remorse throughout the story, even doubts as to his own behaviour.

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. It is important to know the changes Satan progressed throughout the story.

Throughout Paradise Lost, written by Milton, there are many primary motivations that consequently guide Satan in his actions, revenge, power, and lastly, praise of his own followers. First, Satan is guided throughout Paradise Lost by the revenge he wants God to deal with. He decided to go against the lord and live in the dark place where the damned go. Satan must live with the fact that he was one of the highest angels in heaven, but it still was not good enough to become a ruler along with god. He got mad, and lost his spot that he once held.

According to scripture (Matt 4:9, Rev, 12:19) "Satan's goal is to deceive man by blinding him to the truth of the gospel and to receive worship for himself. Satan desires to alter an individuals values and turn them against

Satan knows, however, that he and his forces are no match for the might of Heaven, so he calls for a debate among his devilish council to work through their options. John Milton portrays the arch-demons of hell like members of the Senate, toiling over how to get back at God. The arguments are similar only in that they all believe that some course of action must be taken, but in most ways they are vastly different. Each debate builds on the last until the best compromise is met. Satan begins the debate with his opening remarks.