Essay on the Downfall of Man in John Milton's 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

      Perhaps even more telling are the conversations Satan has with himself.  Modern thinkers rightfully consider of great importance the times when man speaks to parts of his own

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.

The great debate whether Satan is the hero of Milton’s Epic Poem, Paradise Lost, has been speculated for hundreds of years. Milton, a writer devoted to theology and the appraisal of God, may not have intended for his portrayal of Satan to be marked as heroic. Yet, this argument is valid and shares just how remarkable the study of literature can be. Milton wrote his tale of the fall of man in the 1674. His masterpiece is an example of how ideas of a society change with time. This is because it wasn’t until the 1800’s during the Romantic era, that people no longer saw the hero of literary works as perfect in every way. It started to become more popular to develop the flawed character similar to the ones written in the classics. A literary

The Bible does not give any details on the war in Heaven, only that it occurred and led to the dismissal of Satan and his followers from the Heavenly court.  In Paradise Lost, Milton gives a detailed account of the battle that was fought in Heaven, Satan’s reason for initiating it, and how his army was defeated and removed from Heaven.  One of the reasons for Satan’s rebellion given by Milton was that  “Lucifer refuses to be subordinate to God or his divine Son (Christ)” (Moss).  Satan says in Book V of Paradise Lost to his followers that “our being ordained to govern, not to serve!”  This line shows the reader that Satan, also known as Lucifer, believes that he feels he was created to rule instead of serve God. Another reason for Satan’s rebellion against God is that he doesn’t fully believe that God created him and the rest of the Heavenly host.  “ ‘That we were formed, then, say’st thou?... Who saw/ When this creation was? Remember’st thou/ Thy making, while the Maker gave thee being?/ We know no time when we were not as now; Know none before us self-begot, self-raised/ By our own quickening power when fatal course/ Had circled his full orb, the birth mature/ Of this our native Heaven, Ethereal Sons’” (5. 853- 863).  Satan’s disbelief shown in this passage helps lead himself and his followers against God.  Along with his disbelief, Satan’s jealousy got the better of him.  He was jealous and outraged that God had created a Son to inherit the Almighty’s throne.   He believed that he was being cheated out of his rightful place as the “inheritor” of God’s

“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.

Milton draws his inspiration from these verses in describing Satans pride and his attempt to wage war in heaven. However, in his attempt to make Paradise Lost both a conversation and a narration, Milton decides to describe Satans descend from heaven in closer detail, even with the risk of committing sacrilege.

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 six days God created the universe, the earth, and every living thing on it. This includes human beings, who were made in Gods own image. God created Adam and Eve to have an unobstructed relationship with him, He placed them in a paradise called the Garden of Eden and gave them freedom to live in friendship and trust with him. God saw that everything he created was good and He rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). God left Adam and Eve in the garden with specific instructions: they are NOT to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

"In the forefront of the battle, where we expect him, is Milton's Satan, the great rebel of Paradise Lost" (Hamilton 7). Hamilton also introduces the idea of an underdog, describing Satan as a person fighting against an inferior power, with extreme odds against a victory for his side (14). In the scenes around the battle in heaven, Milton shows how Satan is viewed as a leader by the other fallen angels.

          The carefully placed line breaks in the phrase "Behold, instead / Of us outcast, exiled, his new delight, / Mankind created," (4.105-7) suggest that not only does mankind please God, but the fall of Satan and his followers also pleases Him. Also, it is natural for Satan to turn his eyes to Adam and Eve. Satan believes this to be a devious plot devised by him, but in fact it is what God has in mind, as the fall was necessary in order to have Jesus descend later to offer mankind salvation. Satan's conclusion that evil will be his good (4.110) also is in God's plan, and is not a result of Satan's choosing; it is the only course of action he is presented that suits his personality.

Satan’s definitions include the advocate of God, a personification of evil, the fallen angel, a spirit created by God, and also the accuser. People see Satan differently, some know of his existence, others think of him as just a myth, and there are those that just ignore him. John Milton's Paradise Lost tells of Satan's banishment from Heaven and his gain of earth. He and his brigade have plotted war against God and are now doomed to billow in the fiery pits of hell. Satan is a complex character with many different qualities. God is a character who we, as Christians, know about but do not completely understand. We also do not completely understand Satan. Some may think they know Satan but when asked “Is Satan divine?”

Satan has a relationship with his “evil” followers much like a king to his noble subjects (or God to his followers). This is especially evident in lines 436-459, when Satan appears like a commoner until he ascends his throne and is suddenly clad in glory. The hundreds of thousands of demons are all condensed around the capital of Hell, waiting with bated breath for “their great adventurer from the search / of foreign worlds,” “whom they wished beheld, /

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.

Eve’s “lowliness majestic” is perhaps what enchants Adam the most. He is captivated and totally mystified by Eve’s very nature. Adam seems to understand the nature of humanity based on the qualities that he sees in himself, which at first seems safe, as he is the first man. However, he is perplexed by Eve’s completeness—perhaps because the qualities that Eve lacks are the ones that Adam values most in himself! Beholding his wife, he remarks that by design and intention she is his “inferior” (541): her “inward faculties” (542) are not as useful as his own, and she does not as closely resemble the Maker as he does (543-44). She is not designed, as Adam is, with the desire or capacity to rule over the other creatures (544-46). These things are not true of Eve, so Adam finds it difficult to understand why she seems “in herself complete” (548). He marvels that even as she lacks the qualities that resemble the Maker, she seems “so absolute,” not lacking anything (547). Eve is complete, she is a “guard angelic placed” to Adam—one sent as a helper and a protector (559). He is captivated by how “what she wills to do or say,/Seems wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best,” even though the man was intended to be the wisdom-giver (549-550). Adam’s attitude can be