Paradise Lost

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

John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, has been the subject of criticism and interpretation through many years; these interpretations concur in that Adam and Eve are the sufferers of the poem, and it is their blight to lose Paradise because of their disobedience; however, their exile is merely a plight brought by Satan, and it is he who suffers exile before any others. Satan changes from Book I of the poem to Book XII; his introduction is heroic and grand, appearing as a hero rebelling against an unjust God. But by the finalization of Milton’s poem, Satan is a burnt shell of himself and, though ruler of Pandemonium, he sits in a throne in the lowest pit from God’s light. Satan’s exile brings forth the salvation of mankind and his own regressive transformation; tying in with the theme of disobedience, Satan’s exile gives

In Milton's Paradise Lost, he writes the story of the fall of Satan, his followers, and mankind. Many critics often view Satan as the unlikely or tragic hero of the epic poem. Satan is, obviously, the main character throughout most of the poem, but not necessarily the hero. Satan's main purpose is to fight G-d, and try to be on the same level as Him. The important thing is to realize that Satan is sin, and being humans, who are all born into sin, we can easily relate to a sinful character. G-d is holy and perfect. This is something which we, being fallible humans, cannot begin to comprehend. Satan does, at the beginning, follow many of the attributes which coincide with Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero; however, after the

According to Woodman, “Evil, as presented by Milton, may be defined as a rebellion against the hierarchy of God’s creation.”, but in my opinion, evil is being immoral and vicious. Satan could be described as evil, but because of his reasons to be evil towards God, I don’t really believe he is evil. He is a spoiled, broken child that wants to get back at the deity that wronged him. His entire existence is to seek revenge on God for throwing him and his apostles out of heaven, and shunning them into Hell. Satan just doesn’t come across as evil in Paradise Lost and Milton describes him as a hero that tried to conquer an evil tyrant. Satan has evil qualities in our stories today, but in Book 1 and 2 of Paradise Lost, he is not considered evil. When a person compares what society thinks of Satan today, and how Milton wrote Satan in Paradise Lost, he is considerably not evil.

There are hundreds of books which have written about Satan, such as The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey, The Church of Satan by Blanche Barton, Paradise Lost by John Milton, Book of Job etc. Among the thousands of books which are written about Satan, Milton’s Paradise Lost is mainly about Satan’s persuasion of Eve and Adam to choose wrong over good.

According to the Christian religion the Devil, or Satan, is the source of sin and temptation. It is believed that there was a war in heaven against the rule of God and that Satan lead away many of the host of heaven to become fallen angels as God expelled the traitors from the heavens. John Milton wished to write a poem by which he could be remembered as the authors of the odyssey, Iliad, and the Aeneid. He did this in the form an epic poem about the story of Eden. Milton’s poem is written from the point of view of Satan and in such a way that he appears to be the heroic figure of the tale. Satan is given lines to uplift the demons of hell, seeming to empower them and as he sets off to derail the lives of Adam and Eve, the insight the

In today’s world, the name Satan disgusts people. Satan is viewed as completely evil. In 1667, however, John Milton did not portray Satan in this manner. In his epic poem Paradise Lost, Satan is a character who commits understandable actions leading the reader to actually feel sympathy for him. In Paradise Lost, Milton shows Satan as a being who publicly exhibits himself greater than he is due to his fear of others discovering his pitiful state and believing his rebellion was invalid.

I Believe Milton considers Satan to be the hero, or protagonist, of the story, because he struggles to overcome his own doubts and weaknesses and accomplishes his goal of corrupting humankind. Satan is a very complex character in the epic poem. I belive Milton considers Satan as his hero because he want Satan to seem heroic and appealing early in the poem to draw us into sympathizing with him against our will, so that we may see how seductive evil is and learn to be more vigilant in resisting its appeal. Milton devotes much of the poem’s early books to developing Satan’s character. Satan’s character changes significantly from Book I to his final appearance in Book X. In Book I he is a strong, imposing figure with great abilities as a leader and public statesmen, whereas by the poem’s end he

The most important characters in the epic poem, “Paradise Lost”, are Satan and Eve. These two characters are most responsible for the development and progression of events within the poem. Satan is the main figure throughout the vast majority of the plot. “Paradise Lost” follows Satan’s ultimately successful attempt to destroy God’s perfect creation, humanity, by forcing Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. In creating humanity, God set expectations and put in place boundaries for Adam and Eve, yet they were not particularly restrictive.

Epic tradition has existed long throughout the history of literature, built around the concept of the hero—the protagonist whose talents and admirable characteristics propel them to conquer an impossible task. In the case of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan exists as the protagonists of Milton’s epic, seeking revenge on God for punishing him to the depths of hell for leading a revolt against heaven. However, although Satan’s actions are villainous and sinful, his tale follows that of the traditional epic hero. Satan fits the characteristics of the epic hero through his illustrious status among his fallen angels and his immense hubris, leading to a plot to corrupt mankind and seek revenge against God.

In Paradise Lost Satan is tempting to enjoy as a character. He is more dynamic, interesting as well he takes the place of the hero in this epic. Satan’s home is hell which Milton’s describes vividly as “a dungeon horrible”, “darkness visible”, “where peace and rest can never dwell, hope never comes”, “torture without end”, “waste and wild” in contrast to basically no description of heaven. In contrast Gods character in Paradise Lost is depicted as bland, he does not tempt, just states what he needs to state in the hopes that his people will follow. Appropriate for the situation for Milton believes God is perfection and does not need to change. The reasoning for this particular depiction of these characters is found in Milton’s ideals. As a Puritan, Milton’s valued simplicity in religion so

Satan was a powerful angel who, after being thrown into hell, used his powers to deceive God's newly created beings, Adam and Eve. These characters are perceived as innocent and vulnerable creatures, who could be easily influenced. What better way to get revenge on God than to tempt His most prized possessions? Satan uses his power of deceiving rhetoric to mislead his followers. He then deceives Eve with the same kind of rhetoric. Satan's tone changes between the speech to the council and the speech to Eve. We are introduced to Satan as a heroic figure. As the poem goes on his character loses his greatness and falls to that of a creature. Satan lusts after of God's powers and wants to possess them himself. "But I should ill become this throne, O Peers, An this imperial sov'reignty, adorned with splendor, armed with power, if aught proposed, and judged of public moment"(II. 445). He admires God's excellence and is willing to stop at nothing to obtain this level of greatness. In addition of Satan being so great and heroic, Milton gives the readers a sense that Satan is constantly suffering. Satan explains that the more pleasures he sees, the more torment he feels. He doesn't want to live on earth or in heaven, though he wants to make others experience the same pain that ails him. He explains, "only in destroying I find ease to my restless thoughts," (IX.129) stressing that with his intensity of ambition he'll stop at nothing for revenge. Milton shows the greatness of Satan but

The argument over who is the true protagonist of Paradise Lost, has been brewing for centuries. One would gather that Milton, a Puritan, would have no problem casting God as the hero, and Satan as the antagonist. But looking back in history, Milton saw that most epic heroes had conflicts that prevented them from accomplishing their goals. God and his Son have no conflict, and Adam's story doesn't really begin until the Fall of Man. Therefore, Milton was forced to select Satan as the hero of Paradise Lost because he adheres to the guidelines of epic poetry set by Homer, Vergil and others. There many examples of how Milton uses and edits the tradition of these previous epics in the formation of the Devil as a hero.

In his epic, Paradise Lost, Milton entertains the reader with his version of how one of the greatest falls of humanity occurred. Although many would consider God or Adam and Eve as the main characters in a story like this, the main character of this epic is truly Satan. Satan is shown as a strong and powerful character who is completely overwhelmed with emotions which create a type of hell in his mind; even when he is in heaven, he cannot escape his true life. Satan’s desire for vengeance on God’s creation not only unveils the personality of the protagonist but it also offers a glimpse into what the character Adam is like.

One of the most intriguing characters in the epic Paradise Lost is Satan who rebels against God and chooses to live his life on his own terms. While Satan is commonly associated with evil, John Milton portrays him sympathetically and shows uses him as a tool to demonstrate the power of free will. In Paradise Lost, Satan can be considered to be the ultimate rebel. Not only does he defy God, but he also influences others to think for themselves and to blindly follow others.