A Comparison of God and Satan in Paradise Lost Essay

The classical description of a hero does not make it easy for readers to compare Satan’s character in Paradise Lost to a heroic figure. The definition of a hero is usually a man, who is essentially good, and faces difficult challenges and successfully overcomes difficulties. Of course, Satan’s true motives also make him less heroic, but in Milton’s poem the definition of a hero is challenged by Satan’s and by God’s character as well. In Susan Henthorne’s article on Paradise Lost she states, “The characteristics of God and Satan are problematic,” in that “God can seem as tyrannical and cruel...” and “Satan with his fallen nature, is easier to understand” (Enthrone). The traditional definition of a hero contradicts God’s characteristics in that they appear anti-heroic. Milton’s God is portrayed as a powerful ruler who bestows his blessings to those who follow him and eternal damnation to those who do not. When Satan questions God’s will Satan is thrown out of heaven and this act shows that God is capable vengeful anger. God’s unfriendly, distance, and wrathful characteristics makes Satan’s character even more appealing, seen as a heroic figure, and readers

However, craving independence from God ferociously backfires on Satan when he finds out that even after leaving hell, he cannot escape it, “which way [he] [flies] is Hell, [he] [himself] is Hell,” (IV, 75). Satan finds his way to revolt against and separate from God to overrule Heaven and become king, instead however, he takes on the role of the representation of all evil which is evidently seen in his interactions with Eve.

Satan was unwilling to back down, no matter how great God’s power. This mission stands out as an element of the epic hero. In almost all epics written the hero has to stifle past guarded boundaries in order to complete goals. Satan’s bravery in trying to learn answers concerning his existence in heaven and his damnation to Hell is noble. Determination to derive truth is an admirable quality. Though his bitterness creates negative characteristics, his core purpose is not entirely blasphemous. He considers all that is placed before him and says in book 1, “Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven” (263). He knows that Hell is a place of doom and torture, but he is committed to living there with dignity and hopes to eventually rise above the creator and gain back what he feels he is entitled to as a living being. This acceptance of his conditions and determination to overcome makes him the underdog that an audience cannot help but root for. Everyone knows what it’s like to be in dark place with no visible escape. People want to be able to relate to a character that remains hopeful. In this sense Satan seems very heroic and critics have even gone as far as interpreting God as the villain.

The initial connotation of the word daemon brings about thoughts of demons, making mirrored parallels between the characters of Satan in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and the daemon in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein legitimate; however, further analysis of the word daemon links itself to Ancient Greeks. They believed a daemon was a being trapped somewhere between being considered a god and a human, or as a fallen hero. Although Milton’s novel sympathizes with Satan as a character, it still acknowledges the fall of Satan for disobeying God and attempting to overthrow him. The characters of the daemon and Satan are characterized as being sympathetic and complex beings, still capable of partaking in evil actions.

“O Hell!” Satan’s opening exclamation of frustration immediately alerts readers to Satan’s state of mind. As Satan gazes on Adam and Eve, he is struck by their blissful state, which sends him into a spiral of confusion as he slightly reconsiders his plan to destroy them. To himself, Satan addresses the pair; he begins regretful and with pity for Adam and Eve. He later shifts in tone to vengeful, envious, and angry. Further exemplifying Satan’s contrasting attitudes, Milton uses antonymous words of emotion throughout the passage. By the end of passage, Milton solidifies Satan’s hardening of heart and ends the struggle that has been festering inside Satan since his first act of rebellion against God. Milton successfully uses both the shift in tone and the emotional diction to reveal Satan’s stormy internal conflict.

But if Satan does only what God wants, there is no external proof that Satan indeed had exercised his will. Satan cannot be content with mere assent that looks like blind obedience. Dissent, on the other hand, is absolute proof of Satan's individual will being realized over against God's will. Satan's intent seems to be to prove the existence of his will rather than, as God wants, to prove the independently good content of his will. By dissent, Satan shows himself to be more concerned with himself than with God, with the appearance of free will than with its real content. Here is the second major constraint under which Satan lies: as a rule, he only recognizes that part of himself which is disobedient. This constraint, unlike the one natural to Satan's will, is self-imposed.

In “Paradise Lost” I think that Milton’s character Satan may be considered one of the most complex characters and is always changing. Of course at first he comes off as a very evil guy, who had a strong thirst for vengeance and liked to wreak havoc. Even though

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

Milton's purpose in Paradise Lost is nothing less than to assert eternal providence and justify the ways of God to men - a most daunting task.  For Milton to succeed in his endeavour, he has to unravel a number of theologiccal thorns that have troubled christian philosophers for centuries.  Since his epic poem is, essentially, a twelve book argument building to a logical conclusion - the 'justification of the ways of God to men' - he will necessarily have to deal with these dogmatic problems, and, in doing so, reveal his own take on the Christian theology.

In Milton’s Paradise Lost, surely we have come to ponder upon the makeup of Satan’s attractable character—his rebellious, seductive, almost “bad-ass” attitude—a case of admirable evil. But let us not forget his ambition, his strive to weld the image of God. We have seen many moments throughout where we get Satan’s ground for imitating the image of God: “…In imitation of that Mount whereon / Messiah was declar’d…” (V 764-65). But why does Satan do this? What is it in Satan that causes him to “look up” to God? Is God a tyrant yet a role model to Satan? I propose that Satan’s drive is something more than just an act of pretending; maybe, it is rather a means of trying to grasp what he has been taken away from him. Or, we can say that Satan was more. Perhaps he came to existence not in the mold of angel, but as a divine tool. There must be a reason as to: why Satan was considered God’s “first and favorite angel”? This seems to suggest that Satan is, originally, at some level of divinity; an experiment of God’s that was put to the test (or is a test)—a divine prototype.

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. According to my sources, Satan is displayed as the hero, while God is the evil deity, and Milton was wrong for writing Him as so. In this essay, I will show my thoughts on the subject of Satan as an evil

<br>There are other speeches of war in the epic that arouse the reader. One of the most significant is after Satan has made a meeting in the new Capitol of Hell, Pandemonium. "To have built Heaven high towers; Nor did he scape \ By all his engines but was headlong sent \ With industrious crew to build in Hell" (Milton 55). Following the rapid building, all the fallen angels gather for their meeting asking shall it be war or peace. "Their rising all at one was as the sound \ Of thunder heard remote. Towards him they bend \ With awful reverence prone, and as a god" (Milton 79). When his followers cheer Satan on, the reader notices how much he likes the attention. This is another sign of how Milton shows the significant role that Satan's pride plays in his decisions. In many different encounters Satan lets his pride interfere with his actions. In doing this, Satan begins to worry only about himself and the opinions his followers hold of him. Satan continues with the speech saying, "Should we again provoke \ Our Stronger, some worse way his wrath may find

God throws Satan and his followers into hell for their defiance. Satan shows rebellion towards God, this is the first rebellion there ever was. According to Webster’s dictionary rebellion is organized opposition to authority, a conflict in which one faction tries to take control from another. I think rebellion also includes disobedience. John Carrey says that in the epic “Satan concedes his own criminality, and his own responsibility for his fall. He facilitates between remorse and defiance. He confesses that his rebellion was completely unjustifiable, that he had the same freewill and power to stand as all God’s creatures, and that he therefore has nothing to accuse but heavens free love dealt equally to all”(134). Basically Satan did this to himself. We do not really understand why Satan defied God and we probably would not understand.

Satan is so high in his own esteem; he cannot bear to be a servant and must be a leader, as he says in Book I, “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n” (line 263).

Contending, and so doubtful what might fall. “ (Milton 35). This speech is quite positive and uplifting; Satan's followers are even more encouraged by their leader. Satan is also a great military leader, yet not quite powerful enough to defeat God. Overall, Satan is portrayed in this poem as “a character so real and so human one cant help but be drawn to him” (Wallace). Whether the reader takes the