Satan takes a central role in Paradise Lost. In delving further into this much-maligned character, this monumental work boldly goes where others had not, presenting a fictionalized backstory that offers a motive for Satan's abandonment of God. And the story can be compelling, striking a chord with many who identify with Lucifer's pain as a child scorned.
Considering this "new history," address the idea that Satan is a sympathetic character in Paradise Lost. Is he the Hero of the story? Is this Milton's purpose? What is this story all about? Is this the Divine / Heavenly version of the Garden of Eden story, with Satan playing the role of Adam? If there are parallels, what is the striking difference between Satan and Adam?
Within the first few books of Paradise Lost, Milton seems to establish Satan as a hero, mainly because focus on the character and identity of Satan, as well as his struggles. When an author typically builds the protagonist of their particular text, they establish a conflict that the character must overcome as well as the character’s personal feelings towards their task, thus evoking empathy from the reader. This is something that Milton seemingly does when discussing Satan, causing a sense of confusion between the reader and the author of who the protagonist really is. By creating this setup in the beginning, Milton exaggerates and zooms in on Satan’s character and makes him seem more powerful than he actually is. When Milton takes this approach, he essentially evokes sympathy and depicts Satan as someone worth relating to. While Milton may or may not have had the intention of doing this, his actions do not exactly declare Satan a hero in any way, shape, or form. The reader may feel sympathy, but none of the event that the author speaks of necessarily describes anything heroic. Yes, Satan survived a war with God and was still willing to fight again, but his intentions for fighting are clearly rooted in evil. While God hoped to maintain his kingdom in order to serve others and provide a haven in afterlife for Christians, Satan strives to win solely for his own good. In my opinion, there are little to no parallels between Garden of Eden story and that of Satan, but there is one striking difference between the two. This difference stems from why these characters act in the ways that they do. Adam makes his decisions solely with Eve in mind. His actions are rooted in love and his innocence only serves to reinforce this point. With little knowledge of why he is doing what he is, Adam acts with a clear mind that makes it easy to see his true colors. He acts with love through every step because that is all he knows. On the other hand, Satan actively chooses to do things solely for himself. He doesn’t wish to serve others, and his selfishness dominates in everything he does.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is clear in Paradise Lost that Satan is the villain, he displays heroic traits and acts as the pseudo-hero of the story. The hero archetype applies to protagonist characters who overcome hardships; while Satan is certainly not the good guy in Paradise Lost, his actions exhibit many heroic traits, earning him the title of someone who is not quite a hero. Punished by God and banished to Hell, Satan's story is about a man who rebels against a higher power. His goal of revenge is monumental and impossible, but he overcomes challenges and commands the armies of Hell in war. God is naturally associated with righteousness, but if the characters and Paradise Lost were replaced by mortals, then Satan could be seen as a hero. The story of his fall also shares many traits with the story of Adam and Eve. Satan is often compared to Adam, however, his character also has much in common with Eve's. Both Satan and Eve made their decisions to rebel against God by themselves; although Eve was influenced by the serpent, she was in control of her final decision to eat the fruit. Adam follows in her footsteps, choosing to support her decision. All three characters were punished for their deeds, Satan was banished to Hell, Adam was cursed with laboring and work, and Eve was given the pain of childbirth. The characters also show regret over their actions. The key difference between Satan and the other two characters is that Satan chose to fight back, Adam and Eve accepted their new roles and were blessed with offspring for their hard work.
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ReplyDeleteWhen presented with Satan’s personal side of the story, one is able to feel more sympathy for him, compared to when one reads about him as an antagonist in a book written through the perspective of his nemesis, God. Although throughout the book it is evident that Satan’s actions are often rooted in pride and evil, when one is given the opportunity to understand Satan’s action, a new sense of empathy is derived. For instance, when Satan finds that God created a beautiful abode for his new creation, man, he feels jealous, and wants to bring woe unto man. Similarly, when Satan realizes that God has developed a more intimate relationship with his son, than he ever did with Satan, he feels replaced, and wants to destroy God’s happiness. When presented with this information, that Satan was feeling sad and betrayed, one can understand his actions more readily, and thus sympathize with him to a greater degree. Despite this sense of empathy, however, Satan is not portrayed as a hero. This, in part, can be attributed to the fact the the reader generally does not believe the actions of Satan were morally right, even after with a sense of empathy and acknowledgment of his situation. Milton’s devout purpose may be showcased in acknowledging Satan’s situation, but qualifying it by siding with God, showing that despite his situation, Satan was erroneous, and God was correct. With regards to the story as a whole, although there are many parallels between Adam and Satan, (they both disobey God, fall from heaven, etc.) there is also a clear distinction between the two characters. Adam atones and lives the rest of his mortal life in accordance to the Lord’s laws, while Satan constantly works against God. This can be seen as a manifestation of their levels of hope, as Adam retains hope and seeks a greater relationship with God, while Satan loses all hope and indulges in grieving God.
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ReplyDeleteI am a firm believer that there are two sides to every story. Paradise lost is Satan’s side to his fall from heaven and the fall from Eden. In this side of the story Satan exemplifies the typical underdog hero taking on the “tyrant.” Satan willingly volunteers to take on the mission of destroying the new world and like any hero in an epic we get a glimpse at his weaknesses: he is apprehensive and fearful of his mission as well as prideful. We see weaknesses like these shown in other Epic poems. Aeneas is fearful and weary at the beginning of the Aeneid, but hides his feelings from his men. Satan does the same during the council of demons. Like Achilles, Satan’s quest is also for revenge. Achilles comes to Troy to take revenge on the Trojans for Paris’s stealing of Helen. While there he kills Hector to avenge the his friend Patroclus. This action was seen as heroic and noble, so why would we not see Satan’s that way? He is taking revenge for what he sees as a great injustice. If we remove that fact that his adversary is God, I can see how his feelings are warranted. I sympathize with the devoted follower of “the king”, who was a high ranking angel, and who one day, with no warning, finds that he has been replaced by a son of God who is seemingly less qualified. God demands that Satan bow down to Jesus when he has not proven himself, while Satan has done God’s bidding and proven himself worthy of his ranking. He is suddenly out shown by the sun. If the names of the characters and the locations were changed, I would argue that this would be the story of a hero rising from the ashes and fighting for his honor. I believe Milton is showing us that there might be more to story of Satan and God than the bible lets on. He wants us to see that while Satan is imperfect, God is too. Satan’s actions may seem immoral, but there is a heroic element in his seduction of Eve and actions against God.
Satan’s expansive characterization in Paradise Lost works to elicit sympathy from the reader. Although Satan’s evil identity is widely accepted, his humanlike personality in Paradise Lost causes me to pity him. Satan’s soliloquy in book 4 where he expresses remorse and grief in his actions really caused me to second guess his nature. Although Satan’s hubris definitely lead to his downfall, he has a valid reason to be upset. As arguably the most powerful and prominent archangel, Satan expected a certain degree of respect towards him. With the creation of Jesus, Satan was suddenly deemed subordinate to this much younger entity. Although the course of action Satan took was rash, his cause for being upset was certainly evident. Due to the expansive characterization of Satan starting early-on in Paradise Lost, I do believe that Satan is a hero in some senses of the word. Although he is not righteously affiliated, he has a source of motivation for his action and he sacrifices everything (as Eddy discussed) to pursue his goals. Even though traditionally Satan’s goals are viewed as unheroic and evil, it’s important to consider how he would be portrayed on the flipside. In other words, if Christianity was Satan-centric, his overthrow of what would seem as an unjust dictator would be applauded as heroic.
ReplyDeleteBut by no means is Milton’s purpose to endorse satanic religions. On the other hand, I believe Paradise Lost encourages further scrutiny in Christianity and therefore encourages further faith. If Satan were simply established as a created force of evil, it seems quizzical for the entity of holiness and righteousness to create such a contrasting force; however, if Satan fell by his own hubris and decisions, the existence of an evil force is therefore justified. This notion does lead to questioning of the scope of God’s power however, because could a creation of God’s really disobey his master plan? Or is Satan indeed an unwitting agent of God’s?
On another note, the parallels between Satan and Adam serve to exemplify Satan’s inability to return to the path of salvation. While the two characters both fall, they fall for different reasons and react differently afterwards. Adam falls because of a greed for knowledge; he’s not acting as opposition to divinity. Satan on the other hand acts in direct conflict with God, and therefore it’s not likely that he’ll be allowed to regain God’s favor. Also, post fall Adam retains hope in returning to the path of salvation as shown by his conversations with divine force in an attempt to reestablish his concept of divinity. Satan on the other hand gives up home on returning to heaven as a respected angel, and commits to being the opposing force to God constantly (as I mentioned in my presentation, he’s locked in the rigidity of despair). These two differences in the parallels between the two characters solidify Adam’s path of redemption and Satan’s inability to return to the path of God’s grace.
I doubt Satan is intended to be a hero in Paradise Lost, but he's sort of written in a hero-like fashion. Like said in the prompt, his backstory is very similar to your typical underdog story. He's replaced on a whim, and this would probably upset anybody if you were to see God as your boss. The only difference (which is a major one) is that God is the ruler of all matter and ultimately has the final say in everything.
ReplyDeleteSatan is clearly written, however, to contrast with Adam. Their stories are similar in obvious ways. Both were, in their mind, betrayed with one of God's creations (Adam by Eve and Satan by God's son), both underwent a fall from grace, and both were forever affected by it. Although, there is a stark difference and this is where their stories take a different turn. Adam eventually repents and wants to atone for his wrongdoing. He forgives Eve and drops the issue. Satan forever holds the jealousy and envy against God and will never give in. He has previously thought about repenting, but turns it down, because he's too stubborn and prideful. Adam and Satan are foils to one another. Milton wants to show that humans can overcome their evilness and become righteous again by walking in the path of God, This is, according to Paradise Lost and the Bible, the right thing to do, instead of being miserable and condemned to hell for the rest of eternity.
I do not believe that Satan is the hero. He appears to be built up as the hero in the early parts of the story. Milton makes the reader almost want to feel sorry for Satan. He makes it seem like Satan was wronged when God chose God’s son to be God’s right hand man instead of Satan, but by the end due to his evil acts it is clear that he is not the hero. I do believe that this is Milton’s purpose. This story is talking about the Story of Satan and about his fall from heaven. It also talks about the story of Satan, Adam, and Eve. It talks about how Satan convinces them to eat from the fruit of knowledge simply with the intent of ruining God’s creation. Satan and Adam do have parallels. They both begin being devoted to God. Adam is God’s greatest creation and Satan is one of God’s higher angels. They both then have a fall from grace. Satan is upset the God makes his son his right hand man instead of him, so Satan takes some other angels and leaves. Adam, blinded by his love for Eve, decides he would rather fall with her than live without her after she eats from the fruit of knowledge. Adam then eats from it as well. The big difference between them is that after their falls from grace is that Adam then lives trying to follow God and earn his forgiveness, while Satan continues to live in rebellion.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure that I am convinced that Satan is the true hero of Paradise Lost. Even if he does exhibit some heroic qualities, he is still clearly a character with evil intentions. He plots his revenge against God, making it his sole goal to act in opposition of God. In order for me to be able to call this act of revenge heroic, there would need to be some act of injustice against Satan by God. Despite the fact that God kicks Satan out of Heaven and banishes him to Hell, I do not see any clear acts of injustice. God is not in the wrong for demanding that Satan, who is already a subordinate being, pledge his allegiance to Jesus. If Satan were truly a devoted follower of God, he would not have let the creation of Jesus phase him, much less lead him to outright rebellion. Because there is no act of injustice, the act of revenge is more out of spite than in an effort to right a wrong. These actions, to me, are not those of a hero.
ReplyDeleteHowever, readers are not wrong to feel a connection to Milton’s characterization of Satan. One part that stuck out to me specifically was the section of Book 4 we read where Satan is speaking about his actions against God, almost feeling guilty for all that he has done. Guilt is an emotion all of us have experienced. Milton almost convinced me that Satan was indeed sorry, but then Satan comes to the conclusion that he would have ended up in Hell even if he did not lead the rebellion. He is not truly remorseful of his actions; he is just sorry that he is now forced to spend the rest of his days in Hell rather than Heaven. Thus, while Satan does have human-like qualities, including conflicting feelings about what is right and wrong, he is not a heroic character with fully good intentions.
Throughout Paradise Lost Satan is portrayed as the protagonist by Milton. My impression of the poem was that Milton purposely depicted Satan as the hero because Paradise Lost describes the struggle Satan faced after losing his "paradise" and the vengeance that he sought after he was sent to the Underworld. Paradise Lost is comparable to a tragedy, where Satan is the main character that suffers extreme despair or sorrow. While reading the poem, I almost felt sympathetic towards him since he has human characteristics, and there were a few scenes where he questioned his sense of himself. Though Satan gained my sympathy for some of his struggles, I do not believe that he is heroic in any way.
ReplyDeleteThere are some parallels between Satan and Adam. They both rebel against God’s word, which inevitably leads to their banishment from heaven, in Satan’s case, and from the Garden of Eden, in Adam’s case. Both Satan and Adam have a sense of evil in them, which leads me to the question, since God made Adam in his own image, does this mean God contains evil in him as well? Does everyone have some form of evil in them?
Throughout Paradise Lost, Milton has made it clear that Satan is the main character he is writing about. He is the only character that gets a background story and in-depth characterization, so it is clear that Milton wants the focus to be on Satan. What’s unique about Paradise Lost, is that it takes the normally evil Satan, and not only gives him a personality, but also humanizes him with an explanation for why he chose the course of action that he did. In doing so, I think Milton’s purpose in writing the story was to demonstrate that there is always another side to a story, and that even though a very clear villain is portrayed as such in one account, that villain is in fact a reasonable, decision making creature as well. Satan as the main character is also indicative of him being the hero of the story; the story of a fallen angel who chose a path against the norm, and after losing his initial endeavor continues to try and thwart God. There are many parallels between Satan’s story in Paradise Lost and Adam’s story in genesis, but the overarching idea is the downfall of a character that was once in God’s favor. The key differences between the two stories are the cause for the fall and the aftermath of the fall. For Adam, the fall was caused through trickery by the actions of the serpent on Eve, whereas for Satan, his fall was largely in part due to his own hubris and denial of anyone other than God as his superior. Aside from the cause, the aftermath of the both stories display the clear dichotomy between the two. After Satan’s fall, Satan took it upon himself to never relent in his efforts to try and antagonize God, largely in part do to the same hubris that lead to his downfall. Contrastingly, after Adam’s fall, Adam is able to gain back God’s favor and even receive a parting gift from him on his departure from Eden.
ReplyDeleteDespite Milton’s intentions on making Satan the sympathetic hero, I still cannot shake the idea that he is little more than an antagonist to God. A hero typically has a concrete tangible end-goal that is able to be met, but in Satan’s endeavor, all he desires is to undermine and antagonize God’s authority. Thus, I cannot believe that Satan is a true hero, nor even a villain with sympathetic qualities.
Satan is not the hero of paradise lost, but he does have certain heroistic qualities. He is in the position of the underdog going up against a seemingly unbeatable and absolute power. God can be, in a sense, considered a dictator. His rule is absolute and unquestionable and the duties he gives to the angels are required of them. Milton’s purpose seems to be to show how all beings can succumb to evil. Satan is even said to be an angel who succumbs to his own pride, showing how even the divine creations of god can be taken over by sin. Furthermore, the story of Satan does mirror the story of Eden with Adam and Eve. Just as Satan offends God, Adam does as well with the eating of the fruit from the tree, however Adam’s fall is more noble with how he intentionally eats the fruit to have the same fate as Eve.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Satan is typically the villain in a story, in Paradise Lost, Satan is given heroic traits by Milton. Milton shows us Satan’s personal side, and kind of shows us Satan’s humanistic side.Milton allows the reader to feel empathy towards Satan by using a third person omniscient narrator that shows us Satan’s thoughts. I wouldn’t go so far to say that Satan is the Hero of the story because Satan is still the bad guy in the story, but he does have heroic traits. He overcomes the hardship of being banished to hell, and I can draw parallels to David and Goliath. Satan is like David, the little guy, going against a much more formidable foe, God, who can be paralleled to Goliath. The main difference is that Satan does not defeat God, he ends up staying in Hell where he was banished. I think Milton’s purpose in writing this story is to tell us that we must obey God. No matter how powerful we are, and how hard we try, we will not be able to defeat God. I think that this is what this story is all about. I do not believe there are many parallels between Adam and Satan, but one parallel is that they both wanted God’s power. This is the reason that Adam ate the apple, and one of the reasons that Satan is fighting for. Another parallel is that they were both punished by God. Satan was banished to hell and Adam was sentenced to hard and fruitless labor.
ReplyDeleteMilton having given Satan the role as the main character in Paradise Lost allowed readers to subconsciously sympathize with Satan throughout his story. For the first time Satan was depicted as a character with a history that explained his motives as to why he abandoned God. And although there is an argument that Satin is the hero of the story, I personally do not believe that he is. The events that occur as Satin falls from heaven prove that he is not the hero. There are parallels between Satin and Adams stories. Both of them are devoted to God and as they experience evil, evil begins to exist within them. However the most obvious difference from this point on is that Satin continues to rebel against God as he falls from grace and Adam spends the rest of his time working to regain Gods faith and forgiveness. Evil excites within both characters. In some from I believe that evil exists within all of us. Both characters made choices that affected their relationships with God, and although in Paradise Lost it was easy to sympathize with Satin I do not see him as the heroic figure.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is set up to seem in the first couple books with the introduction of and temptation to sympathize towards Satan, Satan is probably not the true hero of the story, for nothing he did was heroic. Satan’s role as an angel is that of a subordinate to God. God defines the angel’s roles by sending them on missions and having them do tasks to reinforce their inferiority, so Satan’s rebellion against God after the introduction of the Son is not just or noble. The angels and man were created to serve God and an outward rebellion against God or his will is evil. Satan has no justification for rebelling, and while some may argue that they too would feel the same way if they were told to bow down to some new kid by their parents, those people are taking the situation out of the context and skewing its purpose. For if a new kid was introduced, a. that child is not Jesus, b. the societal expectation of in creating a child is in the modern day not only for them to become their inferior and serve the parents. Satan’s rebellion and subsequent attempts to hinder God’s plans and tempt man into falling for temptation are not heroic, or noble, or just. But Milton makes it out to seem like it is, and that is to do two things. The first is to establish the fact that there are two sides to every story. The second is to create a parallel between the reader being tempted into accepting Satan as the protagonist of the story and to sympathize with Satan and with evil, just as Adam and Eve were tempted in the Garden of Eden. The story is meant to display that Satan has some traits that may relate to humans and that we may be able to sympathize with, but that is to further one’s Christian faith because of the fact that ultimately, God is the protagonist and victor in the story. Although Satan is able to bring about the fall of man, man still obeys God and works to do God’s plan, and Satan merely acts as a pesky antagonist. Parallels exist between Satan and Adam through the fact they both fall, but they fall for very different reasons. Satan fell because he actively revolted against God and felt no true remorse after, while after man’s fall, he actively seeks redemption in the eyes of God and earns back God’s favor to an extent.
ReplyDeleteSatan is intentionally portrayed as a sympathetic character in Paradise Lost. I think he verges on the line of hero through Milton’s back story but overall is not a tragic hero as some might argue. Satan is depicted particularly to emphasize and foil god through his back story that some may relate to. Satan is depicted in a human like way feeling guilt and at points questioning his own actions. I don’t believe that satan is the hero of the story although Milton wants the reader to feel this way. Milton is testing the reader in his own belief of god and willingness to stray just as satan had tempted Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. This story is all about the testing of beliefs of the reader and who to trust. Themes of guilt and pride are throughout the book particularly in the differences between satan and Adam. The fall of satan (rise of satan?) main cause was because of satan’s pride and unwillingness to see anyone other than god as his higher, superior being. Adam’s demise has to do with trickery but the way he feels guilt and tries to gain back god’s support and trust. Satan deals with his downfall with trickery and antagonizing god in a prideful manner.
ReplyDeleteTo me, Satan is still not the hero of the story. I believe that Milton was perpetuating the idea that everybody has a little bit of both good and evil in them. We can see that in the story itself, as the story is about the banishment of Satan from heaven while Satan attempts to start a rebellion commanding the army of hell. Now looking at god as other than an entirely perfectly good entity, we can definitely see that he may have some evil in him as well as Satan has some good. We can first sympathize with Satan when he shows remorse for his actions as he is banished by god. While he may not have entirely pure righteous motives, as we may believe that god has, he definitely follows a path we would deem as the right path to follow your desires. While Satan may seem like he is a righteous due to the way the story is written, we can contrast the story of Adam and Eve with Satan. While both may have been banished from heaven, it is clear to see that Adam has a desire to atone for his wrong doings rather than begin a rebellion to overthrow god. The way that Satan is portrayed showing that he is contains good in him, allows us to apply these same ideas to Adam. Humans as a race, have the ability to atone and suppress our sins unlike someone like Satan who we consider evil.
ReplyDeleteJohn Milton within Paradise Lost does illustrates Satan as a sympathetic character. It is clear from the beginning that he is acting evilly is because he fell from Heaven. As Eddy mentioned yesterday, people tend to root for the main character of a story, despite them sometimes being evil. Just like I rooted for Walter White in Breaking Bad, I rooted for Satan in this epic. His goal of contaminating God’s creation was an evil goal, but his backstory somewhat put that goal on the backburner. It was easy for us, the class, to relate to Satan because we are ending the rebellious part of our lives and can understand his motives. Satan is displayed as the hero of the story to a degree. Milton’s purpose of painting the fallen angel this way is to juxtapose Satan with God. Satan is painted as a rebellious teenager who gets angry at his parents (God in this case) and tries to find a way to vent his rage, which is uncalled for. Satan is mad at God for banishing him to Hell, and seeks revenge against the Creator because he is furious with His decision. But Satan does not understand that he dropped from Heaven because of his failed rebellion. His pride interfered with the harsh reality that God created another Being that Satan had to be a subordinate to.
ReplyDeleteSatan can be considered the hero of the story because most of the story revolves around him. The story is similar to other great epics such as the Odyssey. Odysseus is considered a hero but his actions don't necessarily mean he was a good person as he killed a lot of people. In Paradise Lost Satan is in a similar boat, he is not really a good character but he continues on throughout his journey to continuously rebel against God. Milton's purpose of writing Paradise Lost is to challenge each persons convictions on the subject of Satan instead of just believing him to be purely evil. This story is all about trying to understand Satan as a character and the Fall on a deeper level. Satan and Adam are both sons of God and both contradict a command that God has given them. The difference is that Adam repents and becomes even closer to God and Satan continues in his pride to rebel against him.
ReplyDeleteThe Satan in Paradise lost is a side of him that we have never seen before. Normally he is betrayed as a villain, which he still remains, however Milton shows sympathy for his character. His behavior is a reaction to being a fallen angel. He is depicted with very human, and very relatable emotions, such as remorse, anger, resentment. For the first time we see Satan as being far more three-dimensional than the unexplainable evil that we see most commonly. Paradise lost is almost a prelude to Garden of Eden story because of the way they both Adam and Satan sacrifice their relationships with God. Satan’s hubris lead to his fall because of his refusal to atone for his sin. Adam, and his love for Eve, lead to his, for after he sinned he chose Eve over God. However this is also their difference. Satan left God for himself and his pride, where as Adam left God for Eve and his affection for another of God’s creations.
ReplyDeleteDuring Paradise Lost, Milton establishes Satan’s side of the story. We gain sympathy to his plights and he becomes the Hero of his own story. While Satan might be viewed as an Evil character in God’s word, Milton makes him out to be a sympathetic, childlike, creature. He becomes the Hero of the story through Milton’s reworking of history. Satan suddenly becomes relatable and you start to pity his exile. Milton’s purpose is to show that there is another side to every story. Choosing Satan as his subject adds to the effect. When even the most Evil of all characters can become the Hero, it shows that the simple action of writing can cause you to see them in a new light. While most of Satan’s actions go viciously against God, his reasoning and feelings can be justified to the extent where he becomes the Hero.
ReplyDeleteWhile Satan exists to oppose God, Adam is His loyal servant. Adam leaves Eden because of his loyalty to Eve, and he keeps praying to God because of his loyalty to Him. There are parallels to the consequences of their actions, but Adam feels deep remorse after disobeying God, and Satan continues his undertaking to oppose God on all platforms.
I would argue that yes, Satan is the “Hero” of the story. I believe that part of Milton’s purpose is to get the reader to sympathize with Satan. I feel that Milton wanted to show that humans are naturally part evil. I think that he achieved this by making Satan the Hero of Paradise Lost so that the readers would feel sympathy towards Satan and his struggles. I see the comparisons between Paradise Lost, and the Garden of Eden story, but I don’t believe it was Milton’s intention when writing Paradise Lost. Yes, both Satan and Adam went against God and his word. Yes, they both did it under their own freewill. There is one big difference between Satan and Adam, however. After Satan went against God, he (eventually) decided to devote his life to messing with God, and effectively giving up any chance of forgiveness. After Adam went against God, he was spared from the death that he was warned of, and it could be argued that he was forgiven.
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ReplyDeleteIn Paradise Lost, Satan is a very sympathetic character. He is built up and shown from a different angle than ever imagined. It shows him having a reason that is easily relatable as to why he rebelled against God. Here Satan is, being replaced with Jesus and told to bow to him when Satan was always second in command, and was now being pushed aside. This creates sympathy within the readers because we can all relate to being cast aside for someone or something new. By continuing on the story, there are also moments of doubt within Satan. At times he wonders if he should ask God for forgiveness, and it is very relatable in the sense that when we are wrong, we know we should admit it, however we will keep fighting with all we have to spare our pride. This is what Satan is going through, he doesn’t want to admit that he was in the wrong. As to parallels between Adam and Satan, both sinned against God and have to face repercussions, This however, is as far as the parallels go for me. Satan acted out of self interest and pride, whereas Adam acted out of love. Satan could not admit wrongdoing whereas Adam admitted it. Satan continues his rebelling against God whereas Adam tries to right his wrongs. Satan and Adam both sinned, but their reasons and reactions were vastly different.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading Paradise Lost, I felt that Milton was attempting to convince the readers of his perception of Satan, that he is a hero; but, I am not completely convinced that Satan was a hero in this case. Milton tries to present Satan as the protagonist in this story because of his previous altercation with God, and how he was wronged by Him. God chose Adam to be, essentially, the shrine that Satan had to bow down to, even though Adam was new, whereas Satan was His right hand man. Milton tried to express that Satan was going up against something greater than himself, God, and this does indeed show some protagonistic qualities, but even though Milton attempted to depict Satan as a hero it is clear that he is not because of the antagonistic actions that he committed. Milton uses Satan to show that all characters can fall into the trap of Evil, and allow it to consume their life. Adam and Satan both show that they do have parallels with one another, this is shown because of their encounters with Evil, and their commitment to God. Though their differences are that Adam, through time, attempts to make up for his Evil actions and win the love of God back, whereas Satan continues to embrace his Evil.
ReplyDeleteThere were many instances where Milton portrayed Satan to be a hero. Milton seemed to describe the characters in the ways he saw them while writing Paradise Lost. I do not believe that Satan was the hero for many reasons. Although Milton gave Satan the power of corruption, that quality is not always looked upon as being positive. Satan was once a good angel but eventually fell once his pride took over. Readers may say that all heroes eventually fall, giving Satan more hero-like qualities. Satan's fall was not light and instead sent him to an evil side when he stated, "better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven". Clearly Satan decided that he rather rule and embrace the evil than be apart of the good.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Paradise Lost is a little more real compared to other stories in the Bible. Milton displayed the characters in Paradise Lost to have similar qualities to that of a modern human. Everyone wants to be successful and better than others eventually which can be shown as a quality of evil. People can relate to Satan which is why some might feel sympathy towards him throughout the story.
Satan’s introduction in the book paints him as a protagonist solely on his importance to the story being told, but as the story progresses his place as a typical hero applies less and less. While he may have traits that are parallel with that of heroes, he is in no means the representation of moral fiber and justice that is usually aligned with the hero of a story. The representation of Satan does garner sympathy for him in the origins of his fall, but his refusal to admit his guilt and correct his wrongs is what separates him from the true hero of the story, Adam. His lack of humility and the arrogance that drove him to his ultimate fate shows the true evil behind his actions. While Adam’s actions were caused by his love for Eve and fulfilling his role in being her mate, Satan was driven by his heightened sense of self. Adam also accepted his punishment and admitted his sins to God. This ability to accept his mistake and come back to God for forgiveness makes him the hero of the story, and the morally upstanding character.
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