Morality and Will Power in Lucifer in Starlight by George Meredith

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

Since the beginning of Paradise Lost, a reader can witness the dramatizing power possessed by Satan, and how he takes advantage of this very power in order to satisfy his own causes. One such property of Satan's fantastic powers is his ability to manipulate any individual into a false belief of who he really is, and therefore prevent a habitant of paradise from discovering his true purpose that is hidden behind his actions. One such example of this, and one of the most major in the epic, are the events that occur in Book IX involving Satan and Eve around the forbidden tree. Here, Satan uses, what is to Eve, excellent reasoning to convince her to eat the forbidden fruit, thereby exploiting

“Lead me not into temptation”... but in all honesty who hasn't given into temptation? Many will give into temptation even though we know it is unwise. But why? Why do we have a desire to do something even though we know what we are doing is wrong? Because sometimes we cannot help it. We are often weak and give in. Examples of temptation can be seen all throughout literature and everyday life. Temptation is inevitable and can corrupt even the best of people.

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

In Dante’s Inferno, Satan was found in the last level of hell. The way Dante describes Satan probably does not fit the typical image of society. Society thinks of the devil as a free demon in hell that would torment every sinner,so he would have horns, a long tail, sharp teeth and malicious smile. Dante describes Satan with three heads one a different color. One head yellow that was the color of impotence. One head black the color the represented ignorance. The last head red that was the color of anger. All these colors were the three emotions that represented Satan himself. In addition, he has two wings under each head that he uses to try and escape his punishment, but just making it more difficult to get out of. As he flaps his wings in order

An angel is pure, bright, and serene. The halo “pale light” (line 4) accurately tells the reader that it is not an obnoxious light rather, it is a tolerable light. The poet wants to show that the wife of the speaker symbolizes divine purity.

Lightness and darkness is a common theme throughout literature, most writers use it through symbols in their writing. In Poe’s story “Masque of the Red Death” and Hawthorne’s story “Minister’s Black Veil” both portray themes of lightness and darkness using symbolism throughout.

Overall I think in the poem “Paradise Lost” Satan’s character was meant to be more attractive to the readers so they would also be seduced by his ways. His character was meant to be more liked then he usually is in things such as the Bible. He was not necessarily meant to be looked at as the hero, but he was described in such a way that it tempted the readers to like him. Just like Satan lured people in and made them do the wrong things Milton lured in his readers to like Satan. He did such a great job that I felt sorry for Satan. But he also made us see everything from Satan view. Which basically

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.

Melville, Poe, and Hawthorne all tend to focus on the darker side of humanity in their writings. In order to allow their readers to better understand their opinions, they often resort to using symbolism. Many times, those symbols take the form of darkness and light appearing throughout the story at appropriate times. A reader might wonder how light functions in the stories, and what it urges the reader to consider. If we look carefully at these appearances of light, or more likely the absence of it, we can gain some insight into what these "subversive romantics" consider to be the truth of humanity. Hawthorne uses this technique to its fullest; however, it is also very

They should glare and glow “like meteors” and not like dim candles. In the last stanza, the speaker refers to his ailing father, on his deathbed and asks him to weep fiercely, as this serves as both a blessing and a curse for him, for his heartbreaking death, and if possible a heroic survival. The poem ends with the same two lines being repeated, thus the poet instructing his father to not submit to death but “rave” and rant and fight it every step of the way.

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 is indeed “Hurled headlong flaming from th’ethereal sky” (Book I, line 45) and into Hell where he will live in fire. But as a leader, and a true protagonist, Satan chooses to accept his situation and rise as a hero for the pack of fallen angels he has led from Heaven. Even if God is his enemy, at least he is not serving anyone. He possesses his own heaven now, though not joyful and happy as the heaven he was just expelled from, “Farewell happy fields/Where joy for ever dwells: hail horrors, hail/Infernal world, …/ Receive thy new possessor” (Book I, lines 249-253). Satan makes Hell his Heaven with his mind, as he says, “The mind is its own place, and in itself/Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n” (Book I, lines 254-255). Satan acknowledges that he has made a Hell of his previous Heaven, but he also uses that reasoning to make Hell into his own Heaven. His anti-heroic qualities are apparent, though, when he tells his followers in Book I, “To do aught good never will be our task/ But ever to do ill our soul delight” (lines 159-160). It cannot be forgotten that Satan is evil by his creation and through his free will. God created Satan with all of his imperfections but makes it clear that he had a choice by

In Emily Dickinson’s lyrical poem “There’s a certain slant of light” she describes a revelation that is experienced on cold “winter afternoons.” Further she goes to say that this revelation of self “oppresses, like the Heft of Cathedral Tunes” and causes “Heavenly Hurt”, yet does not scare for it is neither exterior nor permanent. This only leaves it to be an internal feeling, and according to Dickinson that is where all the “Meanings” lie. There’s no way for this feeling to be explained, all that is known is that it is the “Seal Despair”, and an “imperial affliction”. These descriptions have a rather powerful connotation in showing the oppressive nature of his sentiment. There is an official mark of despair and an imperial affliction

While many arguments can be made to defend Satan as the hero of this story, his power clearly declines throughout the poem. In the end, he does not achieve his goal. Satan is “bitter, but also acknowledges the reality of his circumstances” (Smith). We see Satan reach his peak, then his power gently declines by the end of the story. Although Satan is powerful and persevering, he is no match for God. We begin to see more of his flaws. Satan is undoubtedly charismatic and persuasive in his speeches, as well as a powerful military leader, yet he seems to be somewhat hypocritical as well. For example, when we are first introduced to Satan, he tells his followers not to be afraid, yet he is afraid himself. Some might view this as Satan being brave, but this could also be viewed as him being deceptive, which illustrates how he