paradise lost- is satan the hero?
...thetic person who made a fatal mistake and does not deserve so harsh a punishment. Hamilton also makes another very valid point about Satan’s character, "Satan’s heroic qualities are enhanced by this strain of something approaching tenderness in his character. We see it again when he is moved towards pity, and even love, by the first sight of Adam and Eve in their unsuspecting happiness…his courage and will-power are not the expression of a nature irrevocably hardened or incapable of gentle emotion” (Hamilton 35) It is hard not to admire Satan. Milton has used an extraordinarily powerful depiction of Satan. He has drawn Satan as a strong character with steadfast resolve and unbreakable strength of character. His particularly unconventional action almost gives him an intellectual definition. All of Satan’s heroic qualities do not come the exacting situation he is in or any facts about him: most of his magnificence is derived from the inspired verse, which Milton puts into his speeches. Satan is convincing in his first speech to Beelzebub, his chief partner in crime, as he declares in some of the most powerful lines ever written in literature: What though the field be lost? All is not lost; the unconquerable will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield: And what is else not to be overcome? That glory never shall his wrath or might Extort from me. (1. 105-111) The language here is particularly powerful and underlines Satan's resolution. There is grandeur and magnificence in his speeches- no one can miss their power and eloquence. So we come to the question-did Milton deliberately make Satan heroic? Satan is often called a sympathetic character in Paradise Lost, despite being the source of all evil, and in the first book the reader is presented with some of Satan's frustration. Also, it is quite well-known that the portrayal of Satan was based on Milton’s own life-and the captivating personality Milton has bestowed upon Satan shows his fascination with the character. Satan embodies Milton’s courage, love of freedom and hatred of tyranny. Satan preaches freedom to his followers and struggles to be free from the shackles of oppression. Although the ‘oppression’ is from God, we still sympathize with Satan because we are only getting his side of the story. Satan mesmerizes the readers as well as the critics. Shelley has said: “Nothing can exceed the energy and magnificence of the character of Satan as expressed in Paradise Lost. It is a mistake to suppose that he could have ever been intended for the popular personification of evil…Milton’s devil as a moral being is far more superior to his God, as one who perseveres in some purpose which he has conceived to be excellent in spite of adversity and torture, is to one who in the cold security of undoubted triumph inflicts the most horrible revenge upon his enemy, not from any mistaken notion of inducing him to repent of perseverance in enmity, but of an alleged design of exasperating him to deserve new torments. Milton has so far violated the popular creed as to have alleged no superiority of moral virtue to his god over his devil…this is the defensive proof of the supremacy of Milton’s genius” (Defense of Poetry). Satan obviously has his faults; he did not fall for being determined and ambitious. Satan’s most evident and critical flaw is his pride. Satan and his followers really doubted God's power and authority and thought they had a chance. Satan, when viewed in this way, is cold-hearted. He was an archangel and God’s favorite creation, but in the end, his craving for the ‘throne’ blinded him to the love that God awarded to him. He calls God a ‘tyrant’ and does not believe that God is any greater than he is. The fallen angels have been irreversibly punished for all eternity, but, rather than feel sorry for themselves or repent, Satan pushes his army to be strong, to make ‘a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven’. He is unable to accept his defeat, and this leads him to battle harder to defeat God. Being cast off into Hell has not taught Satan humility; it actually strengthens his resolve to never bow to the Almighty. Hell is punishment for turning away from the Good, but instead of learning his lesson, Satan becomes more stubborn, more proud, and more evil. Satan makes hell a place turned away from God, and turned deliberately toward displeasing him. He urges eternal war against God and remains as defiant as he was before his defeat. Satan wants revenge for his fall even though the fall is directly his fault. But the way that Milton has shown God’s character through Satan’s words, makes us question the punishment; almost making us forget the audacity of Satan’s actions. It makes us think that if Satan is so magnificent in his rebellious defeat, how much greater must God be in his divine victory. There are also tinges of jealousy in Satan’s character; has he purposely decided to sabotage Earth and Adam and Eve because they are now God’s favorites? It is important to note that God’s love shifted from Satan to Adam, and Satan makes sure that Adam also falls as he did. The two separate stories of Satan's fall and Man's fall become parallel. Satan is ‘bent on Man’s destruction’, he does not care about making himself any happier-only that others may be as miserable as him: “Not hope to be myself less miserable By what I seek, but others to make such As I, though thereby worse to me rebound. For only in destroying I find ease To my relentless thoughts: and him destroyed… …Destruction wide may range!” (9. 125-130,135) There is a notable shift from the admirable Satan from Book One to the conniving, devious Satan of Book Nine. He wants to spread evil and concerned about nothing else. Abercrombie has said that Satan appears heroic only in Book One and Two of Paradise Lost; by Book Nine he has lost his splendor. He falls as low as disguising himself as a snake, the most repulsive creature in the garden, and justifies this choice by remarking ‘what will not ambition and revenge/ Descend to?’ By Book Nine we notice Milton’s way of describing Satan is completely unlike it was in previous volumes. Now Satan is evil incarnate, there is no more heroic brilliance-‘hot hell that always in him burns’. He convinces Eve to eat the fruit through compelling arguments; he makes her question God and makes it so that she persuades Adam to eat the fruit as well. Satan is perhaps the most ambiguous character in literary history. Milton has given us a complex and multi-faceted portrayal. Satan can be called he hero or the villain. He possesses qualities of both. He is a revolutionary who fights a valiant battle and eventually loses-or he is a rebel who thoughtlessly fights an ego-driven battle and is cast into eternal punishment for defying the ultimate authority Paradise Lost is perhaps the greatest epic written in the English Language. The poem is written in narrative epic style, mimicking the tradition of Homer and Virgil. The topic of this masterpiece is Biblical- Man’s disobedience and fall. But the epic goes much further than that. Milton pours his imagination into a vision of the nobility of the religion he so passionately fought for. Paradise Lost, in many ways, has been regarded as an autobiographical work. Milton was a staunch Protestant and also somewhat of a freedom fighter; it is said that the rebellion of Satan mirrors Milton’s rebellion against the Roman Catholic Church and also King Charles I. He puts his Protestant religion right at the center of his poetic imagination. There is no doubt that Milton wants the readers to acknowledge his enormous intelligence; he uses numerous allusions and direct references to classical mythology, literature and the Bible. Although most of the world celebrates Paradise Lost, some hostile critics, such as T.S Eliot and F.R Leavis, criticize Milton’s writing skills. They say that the language Milton employs is to develop an impressive sound and to display his learning, but in reality it is repetitive and jumbled. They also criticize Milton for twisting the story to his convenience. In his epic, Milton enlightens us about the war in Heaven and Satan's fall; gives us vivid descriptions of Hell, Eden, and finally Adam and Eve. Milton depicts Satan, Adam and Eve with such an insight that we see them as human beings, not as Biblical characters. We come to understand that they have follies and weaknesses that make them falter. The main purpose of Paradise Lost is to “justify the ways of God to men”. One of the most argued about matters of Paradise Lost is this- who is the real hero of Paradise Lost? A hero is defined as someone who has immense courage, strength, will and always makes the right decision. According to the dictionary, a hero is someone admired for his exceptional behavior. All of these things can be said to describe both Satan and Adam; expect for one tragic flaw. Satan In Book One a great war has taken place in Heaven with Satan and his angels fighting against God and the good angels for the control of the heavens. Satan's loss in the war and his rebellion lead to his fall into Hell. Milton's portrait of Satan has fascinated critics since Paradise Lost's publication, leading some in the Romantic period to claim that Satan is, in fact, the heroic protagonist of the whole work; he is also the first character that Milton introduces us to: …He, with his horrid crew, Lay vanquished, rolling in the fiery gulf, Confounded, though immortal. (1. 51-53) Our first encounter with Satan and his rebel hosts occurs when they are recovering from the shock of having been expelled from heaven after three days of fighting the angels of God. Satan is stupefied at the reality that he has fallen to Hell. He looks around in amazement at his fiery surroundings and thinks of “happiness lost and lasting pain”. It is clear that Satan does not actually regret fighting God, but he does realize that his actions have led him to an eternity of desolation. Satan does not only recognize his own doom, but also that of his followers; the angels that fell with him. He is distressed for his followers. Satan is hurt-not only by the loss to God but also because of the condition of the fallen angels. When Satan is preparing to speak to the angels, “tears, such as Angels weep, burst forth” on seeing their exasperated state. He feels sympathetic towards these once divine beings that are now inhabitants of hell. He does understand that their fall is his fault; he is responsible. But at the same time he demonstrates determination not to be defeated and shows true qualities of leadership. Satan gains admiration by displaying resilience in quickly coming to terms with the change in his circumstances. He quickly organizes his forces; he addresses them with such compassion and valor that they immediately resolve to follow his every command. He unites the fallen angels in their hatred against God and they challenge heaven: …Highly they raged Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arms Clashed on their surrounding shields the din of war Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heaven. (1. 666-669) Satan’s quality is his is reluctance to give up. He has suffered an immense downfall but he does not lose face. His determination is stronger than ever and he is ready to once again take on the “tyranny” of God. He is, at once, the epitome of the struggling individual fighting against oppression and the contemptuous yet almost mild troublemaker who seeks to betray God. Satan has undaunted courage and will. He is not afraid to stand up to the highest authority in existence, and despite his loss, he still thinks he can win. It can also be argued that Satan knew all along that he could not win---but he fought and that is heroic.He is surrounded by an inferno yet stands up tall. He endures the pain of the scorching blazes so his followers do not see him as weak. A beautiful image depicting Satan’s will is: He walked with to support uneasy steps Over the burning Marl, not like those steps On Heaven’s Azure; and the torrid Clime Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with fire, Nathless he so endur’d. (1. 295-299) Milton here puts side-by-side hell’s burning soil to heaven’s crystal floor; this technique is used often and there are many comparisons made between heaven and hell. Parallels are drawn to show Satan’s regret. He proclaims in his third speech to Beelzebub “Farewell, happy fields, /where joy forever dwells: Hail horrors!” Satan’s constant mentions of heaven lead us to believe that perhaps he does in some way wishes to go back to his prior position as God’s ‘favorite angel’. But that is not pondered on for long because he quickly declares himself as the master of hell and says that it is better “to reign in hell than in heaven”. Similarly in a soliloquy in Book Four, Satan curses the sun, which reminds him of his former glory and he feels momentary regret and repentance--but he is overcome with hate and soon restores his resolve to embrace evil. Satan’s fortitude does not break because of the change is setting; he is as ambitious as he was in heaven-if not more. Now he is even more motivated to take revenge on God. We empathize with Satan; he is whom we are to identify with. Hamilton states, "[h] e wins our admiration the more firmly because he is intimately real, while the inhabitants of Heaven are remote and strange" (Hamilton 39). We feel pity for his dismal state and that of his followers, we almost forget for a moment that he is the ‘devil’ and categorize him as a sad, patheti...