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"The character of Satan is pride and sensual inulgence, finding in self the sole of motive action... But around this character [Milton] has thrown a singularity of daring, a grandeur of sufferance, and a ruined spledour, which constitutes the very height of sublimity" (S.T Coleridge)
Assess the justice of this view of Satan in Paradise Lost.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated, it's for my final essay at university and I'm really stuck!!
Thanks
Satan, as a character, has been satirized, mocked and made foolish in our modern world. John Milton, however, presents quite a different Satan from the devil-on-your-shoulder image people are used to seeing. In Paradise Lost, Milton draws on the Bible for his source of Satan’s character, thereby creating a horrifyingly corrupt Satan. Despite this portrayal, readers often find themselves sympathizing with Satan’s cause, and his determination, viewing him as a hero for his cause, as evidenced by his long, brave speeches. Later, however Satan’s speeches begin to show signs of regret, making the reader question their initial reaction to him. In the end the image of Satan is further skewed by his own incriminating speech. Thus, the speeches of Satan, which initially draw readers to be supportive of his plight, later reveal his truly destructive character, resulting in the reader disliking Satan more than if he initially presented himself as a coward.
Early on in Paradise Lost, Satan is found in conversation with his right hand man, Beelzebub, plotting another attack on Heaven. In this conversation, Satan establishes himself as a defender of freedom, a role that is attractive to readers. This is demonstrated in his speech in Book 1, where he says, describing Hell:
Here at least We shall be free; th’ Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure, and in my choice To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heav’n (1.258-263)
Readers admire Satan’s independent attitude, that he feels he would rather be free and reign in Hell, than be under someone else’s authority in Heaven. This speech elevates Satan in the minds of readers to hero status, willing to defend what he believes in, even if it means suffering. His advocacy of freedom gains him reader support, which serves useful later in the poem when Milton uses this perception to highlight Satan’s destructive attitude. Milton is able to do this because it is always worse, and more shocking to see a liked individual reveal himself to be bad, than to always know a bad individual to be bad. Thus, the initial support that Satan gains from readers is designed to alienate him further when his evil side prevails.
As the character of Satan progresses, the reader becomes less willing to accept Satan’s goal of freedom of choice. This is largely due to Satan’s own words regarding his actions. In Book IV Satan is found reflecting on his actions, and wonders if he made the right decision in rebelling against God. He says:
how glorious once above thy sphere; Till pride and worse ambition threw me down Warring in Heav’n against Heav’n’s matchless King: Ah Wherefore! he deserved no such return From me, whom he created what I was In that bright eminence, and with his good Upbraided non, nor was his service hard (4.39-45)
Looking back, Satan sees that his actions against God were not fully justified. He recalls how glorious things were, even calling God the “matchless King”. He further decides that things were better than he thought, noting that the service was not bad, and that he probably owed service to God for creating him. After thinking about this, though, Satan attempts to justify his actions by saying “O had his powerful destiny ordained/ Me some inferior angel, I had stood/ Then happy; no unbounded hope had raised/ Ambition”(4.58-61)”. Satan feels that it was his prominent position that forced him to become so ambitious, and that none of these feelings would have emerged if he had been a lesser angel.
This inner battle leads the reader to become slightly suspicious about Satan’s description of himself in earlier books, and their own interpretation of his earlier words. It becomes difficult to view Satan as a hero, when his own words call into doubt everything for which he stands. While Satan’s ultimate decision is to carry through with his plan, the reader is invited to look through this decision, and see the illogic in his decision.
In Book IX, the destructive side of Satan is finally revealed in full. It is this side of Satan, again seen through his own words, that corrects any leaning to the view that Satan is a hero. It is in this book that the true motives of Satan’s plan to corrupt man are finally revealed, and these motives are anything but heroic. He describes the hatred behind his plan, stealing any credibility he may have built up in readers. Satan’s hate, and passion for ruin is seen in his speech shortly before meeting Eve in the Garden. Here he says:
And the more I see Pleasures bout me, so much more I feel Torment within me, as from the hateful siege Of contraries; all good to me becomes Bane, and in Heav’n much worse would be my state. But neither here seek I, no nor in Heav’n To dwell, unless by mastering Heav’n Supreme; Nor hope to be myself less miserable By what I seek, but others to make such As I, though thereby worse to me redound:(9.119-128)
Any traits that may have allowed readers to view Satan as a hero, disappear in this speech. Here Satan says that, to him, all pleasure is hate, and that he’s not content anywhere. Most horrifyingly is Satan’s statement that his goal is not to make himself less miserable, but only to make others more miserable. These are not words of a hero. They are words of a wholly evil being, whose only goal is corruption and destruction. Satan’s goal of freedom of choice has been lost in his hate. 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. 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.
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE:
But in its utmost abstraction and consequent state of reprobation, the will becomes Satanic pride and rebellious self-idolatry in the relations of the spirit to itself, and remorseless despotism relatively to others; the more hopeless as the more obdurate by its subjugation of sensual impulses, by its superiority to toil and pain and pleasure; in short, by the fearful resolve to find in itself alone the one absolute motive of action, under which all other motives from within and from without must be either subordinated or crushed. This is the character which Milton has so philosophically as well as sublimely embodied in the Satan of his Paradise Lost. Alas! too often has it been embodied in real life. Too often has it given a dark and savage grandeur to the historic page. And wherever it has appeared, under whatever circumstances of time and country, the same ingredients have gone to its composition; and it has been identified by the same attributes. Hope in which there is no cheerfulness; steadfastness within and immovable resolve, with outward restlessness and whirling activity; violence with guile; temerity with cunning; and, as the result of all, interminableness of object with perfect indifference of means; these are the qualities that have constituted the commanding genius; these are the marks that have characterized the masters of mischief, the liberticides, and mighty hunters of mankind, from Nimrod to Bonaparte. And from inattention to the possibility of such a character as well as from ignorance of its elements, even men of honest intentions too frequently become fascinated. Nay, whole nations have been so far duped bv this want of insight and reflection as to regard with palliative admiration, instead of wonder and abhorrence, the Molochs of human nature, who are indebted for the larger portion of their meteoric success to their total want of principle, and who surpass the generality of their fellow creatures in one act of courage, only that of daring to say with their whole heart, "Evil, be thou my good!"
[from The Statesman's Manual, 1816]
Probably the most famous quote about Paradise Lost is William Blake’s statement that Milton was “of the Devil’s party without knowing it.” While Blake may have meant something other than what is generally understood from this quotation (see “Milton’s Style” in the Critical Essays), the idea that Satan is the hero, or at least a type of hero, in Paradise Lost is widespread. However, the progression, or, more precisely, regression, of Satan’s character from Book I through Book X gives a much different and much clearer picture of Milton’s attitude toward Satan.
Writers and critics of the Romantic era advanced the notion that Satan was a Promethean hero, pitting himself against an unjust God. Most of these writers based their ideas on the picture of Satan in the first two books of Paradise Lost. In those books, Satan rises off the lake of fire and delivers his heroic speech still challenging God. Satan tells the other rebels that they can make “a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n” (I, 255) and adds, “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav’n” (I, 263). Satan also calls for and leads the grand council. Finally, he goes forth on his own to cross Chaos and find Earth. Without question, this picture of Satan makes him heroic in his initial introduction to the reader.
Besides his actions, Satan also appears heroic because the first two books focus on Hell and the fallen angels. The reader’s introduction to the poem is through Satan’s point of view. Milton, by beginning in medias res gives Satan the first scene in the poem, a fact that makes Satan the first empathetic character. Also, Milton’s writing in these books, and his characterization of Satan, make the archfiend understandable and unforgettable.
These facts certainly make Satan the most interesting character in the poem—but they do not make him the hero. Because the reader hears Satan’s version first, the reader is unaware of the exaggerations and outright lies that are parts of Satan’s magnificent speeches. Moreover, the reader can easily overlook the fact that Milton states that, whatever powers and abilities the fallen angels have in Hell, those powers and abilities come from God, who could at any moment take them away.
In essence then, Milton’s grand poetic style sets Satan up as heroic in Books I and II. The presentation of Satan makes him seem greater than he actually is and initially draws the reader to Satan’s viewpoint. Further, because all of the other characters in the poem—Adam, Eve, God, the Son, the angels—are essentially types rather than characters, Milton spends more artistic energy on the development of Satan so that throughout the poem, Satan’s character maintains the reader’s interest and, perhaps, sympathy—at least to an extent.
No matter how brilliantly Milton created the character of Satan, the chief demon cannot be the hero of the poem. For Milton, Satan is the enemy who chooses to commit an act that goes against the basic laws of God, that challenges the very nature of the universe. Satan attempts to destroy the hierarchy of Heaven through his rebellion. Satan commits this act not because of the tyranny of God but because he wants what he wants rather than what God wants. Satan is an egoist. His interests always turn on his personal desires. Unlike Adam, who discusses a multiplicity of subjects with Raphael, rarely mentioning his own desires, Satan sees everything in terms of what will happen to him. A true Promethean / Romantic hero has to rebel against an unjust tyranny in an attempt to right a wrong or help someone less fortunate. If Satan had been Prometheus, he would have stolen fire to warm himself, not to help Mankind.
Milton shows his own attitude toward Satan in the way the character degenerates or is degraded in the progression of the poem. Satan is magnificent, even admirable in Books I and II. By book IV, he is changed. In his soliloquy that starts Book IV, Satan declares that Hell is wherever he himself is. Away form his followers and allowed some introspection, Satan already reveals a more conflicted character.
Similarly, Satan’s motives change as the story advances. At first, Satan wishes to continue the fight for freedom from God. Later his motive for continuing the fight becomes glory and renown. Next, the temptation of Adam and Eve is simply a way to disrupt God’s plans. And, at the end, Satan seems to say that he has acted as he has to impress the other demons in Hell. This regression of motives shows quite a fall.
Satan also regresses or degenerates physically. Satan shifts shapes throughout the poem. These changes visually represent the degeneration of his character. First, he takes the form of a lesser angel, a cherub, when he speaks to Uriel. Next, he is a ravening cormorant in the tree of life—an animal but able to fly. Then he is a lion and a tiger—earth-bound beasts of prey, but magnificent. Finally, he is a toad and a snake. He becomes reptilian and disgusting. These shape changes graphically reveal how Satan’s actions change him.
Even in his own shape, Satan degenerates. When Gabriel confronts Satan in Book V, none of the angels initially recognize Satan because his appearance is noticeably changed. Likewise, in Book X, when Satan once again sits on his throne in Hell, none of the earlier magnificence of his physical appearance is left. Now he looks like a drunken debauchee.
Though Satan is not heroic in Paradise Lost, he at times does border on tragedy. Ironically, he also borders on comedy. The comic element associated with Satan derives from the absurdity of his position. As a rebel, he challenges an omnipotent foe, God, with power that is granted him by his foe. God simply toys with Satan in battle. Satan is, in fact, cartoonish when he and Belial gloat over the success of their infernal cannon in Book VI. Satan and Belial stand laughing at the disorder they have caused, but they are unaware of the mountains and boulders just about to land on their heads.
If all of Paradise Lost were on the level of the battle scene, the poem would be comic. But Satan’s temptation of Adam and Eve moves the demon closer to tragedy. Satan’s motives in destroying the human couple may be arguable, but the effect and its implications are not. Satan brings the humans down and causes their removal from Eden. In so doing, he also provides the way to salvation for those humans who choose freely to obey God. However, Satan provides nothing for himself. Hell is where Satan is because he has no way to rejoin God. Unlike humanity, Satan and the other fallen angels have already sealed their fates. They live always with the knowledge of Hell.
In the end, Satan calls to mind the Macbeth of Shakespeare. Both characters are magnificent creations of evil. Both are heroic after a fashion, but both are doomed. Both are fatalistic about the afterlife. Satan knows that he must remain in Hell; Macbeth says that he would “jump the life to come,” if he could kill Duncan with no consequence on Earth. Both characters are the driving force in their own works. And finally both create a kind of Hell; Macbeth’s on Earth, Satan’s in the universe.
Hey Athena I hope this will help u a bit coz I myself had used these points in my University paper on "Satan in Paradise Lost".
I enjoye dthat Shakira.
This reader doesn't admire him - Satan's arguments might convince him but they don't convince me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shakira
hi everyonee well i need anyone of u guys to do me a favor cuz i have an essay to do about 'The depiction of Satan in Paradise Lost' but i have to do it till tomorow and im totally lost so if anyone can send me this essay or help me with this ill be very grateful
and hmm guys its the depiction of satan in book I and II and it has to contain no less then 1000 words