Tool Of The Devil: Comparing Satan in Paradise Lost and The Golden Compass

These instances displays Milton's portrayal of Satan’s ineptitude to win against God’s supremacy. Although Satan is a dark figure that everyone wants to escape from, Milton maximizes the devil’s qualities to portray him as the oppressed fighter for freedom. Milton also humanizes Satan’s attributes by displaying his weaknesses and defeats in the face of the all knowing Creator. Then he is the absolute enemy that deceives and enchants man to succumb to their weaknesses. Milton deliberately creates a reason why Satan is necessary to God by examining the Scripture and was further elevated by C.S.

This aspect of Satan serves as the final stage in a reader’s transition from viewing Satan as the brave leader of a just cause, to viewing him as a lowly coward. Thus, when the character of Satan is traced through its evolution of Paradise Lost, the reason behind the order of development can be seen. Milton’s desire to create a strong hatred of Satan is achieved best by highlighting Satan’s good points first. Then, when Satan’s real character begins to emerge, the reader is appalled at the actions of their “hero”, causing them to dislike him more than had he originally been a bad character. The reader’s distaste for 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.

Iago's two-sided face and the other characters' readiness to believe him before thinking twice is the driving force of the play and its plot. Everyone involved with Iago separately thinks that he is doing them favors, when actually he is a backstabbing, conniving person who is the essence of evil and is often referred to as half-man, half-devil. 'I am not what I am.' This is a quote that should not be taken for granted. In this quote, Iago describes himself as a demonic Satan-like person contradicting God's quote 'I am that I am.'

When he realizes that he is in Hell, Satan begins complaining about his "injur'd merit." For Satan, life is not fair since God the Father loved and preferred His Son more than him. Even though Heaven was lost, Satan states that "All is not lost." According to Satan, "the unconquerable Will," the "study of revenge," and "immortal hate" remained. However, everything worthwhile is lost.

The allure of free will is where the captivation of Satan 's character stems. Similar to that of the typical epic hero, in the midst of his defeat, Satan is awarded the power of recovery; despite this choice Satan allows his malice and pride to refrain him from doing so. His hatred and vengeance motivate Satan to dispute God 's authority. Satan, who would prove quite incompetent at single-handily battling God freely, utilizes his masterminding abilities to level the playing field. The chain of events which begin

Milton makes Satan out to be a loveable likeable character that we can relate to, for a man of principle and a godly man why does he do this “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.”Revelation 1: 8 in the King James Version John Milton’s Paradise lost is a poetic amalgam of vice and virtue it is an epic navigates the perils of right, wrong and the grey area that humans themselvesstraddle. An epic inherently conflicted at its very core stemming from the writer and the environment around him. He delves into the evil that is orchestrated by Satan and the divine directly by god himself. Milton delves deeply into Adam and Eve and the exodus from Eden, he creates a character within Satan that is so narcissistic so irreverent and so immoral all the while without malism andnot sadistic in its truest form. A character whose sole transgression Is a belief system that goes against his creator a belief that he is not good or evil but pursuing his own capital vices in reality transferring his unto the moderately innocent Eve and by extension Adam.

Humanizing Satan: An Examination of Satan as a Victim 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.

Satan, in my opinion, is not as much an evil individual, but more juvenile, and ignorant. He is displayed as juvenile because of his intentions to defeat God in Book 1, and in Book 2, when he comes up with the plan to corrupt God’s creation. He is ignorant in being that he actually believes that if God did not have thunder, then he could have easily defeated God. He continued to show ignorance by going behind God’s back, and trying to conquer him in childish ways. Milton wrote Satan as a hero, because he was very influenced by the English Civil War during that time.

Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost is a complex character meant to be the evil figure in the epic poem. Whenever possible Satan attempts to undermine God and the Son of God who is the true hero of the story. Throughout the story Milton tells the readers that Satan is an evil character, he is meant not to have any redeeming qualities, and to be shown completely as an unsympathetic figure. Satan’s greatest sins are pride and vanity in thinking he can overthrow God, and in the early part of the poem he is portrayed as selfish while in Heaven where all of God’s angels are loved and happy. Satan’s journey starts out as a fallen angel with great stature, has the ability to reason and argue, but by Book X the anguish and pain he goes through is more reason for him to follow an evil path instead.