Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Satan in Paradise Lost
In class we discussed the qualities that Satan has that portray him as the hero of Miltons epic. However, I think Milton is not intentionally putting Satan in this role as much as he is trying to glorify the power of God. Milton "hypes" up Satan. One of the greatest angels in heaven, Satans name Lucifer translates to "Light-Bearer". During his battle with God, Satan was able to persuade one-third of all the angels to join his cause. Milton builds up Satan as a character of power, beauty, and charisma as a contrast to the unrivaled undominable God. "His pride had cast him out from Heav'n with all his host of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring to set himself in glory above his peers". As much as Milton empowers Satans character in the first Book of Paradise Lost, he slowly breaks him down into an inferior hero (compared to God/other angels) and introduces the more sinister qualities of his character. This in turn completely shifts the readers view of Satan from a sympathetic protagonist to the antogonist that we usually associate him.
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yea i definitely agree that at first satan gets hyped up as someone that people could root and cheer for. milton is maybe showing people how easy it is to relate to satan and build a level of trust, and be fooled by satan like eve was which led to paradise lost...
ReplyDeleteI agree that giving Satan characteristics of an epic hero helps to emphasize the power of God. You've also raised a good point in that building him up so much only to tear him down does a great job emphasizing the true nature of his evil. These are good devices that help us better understand the characters and what they represent in terms of what was happening in England at the time.
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