Who Is the Hero in Paradise Lost
Who is the Hero in Paradise Lost?
In John Milton’s epic, Paradise Lost, Milton retells the story of Genesis and the fall of man. One might think that because of the Bible, the hero would most likely be God or Jesus, but there are other possibilities in this story. A basic description of a hero would be, a man, a fundamentally good person confronting challenges and overcoming them successfully. Satan, in this epic, confronts many challenges and battles severe character flaws, thus Satan is the hero in John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Satan's destructive flaws, everlasting inner struggles and his determination to wage battles in his war against God that he knows he cannot win, make him Milton's unlikely hero. Milton hints and reveals several of Satan’s flaws that would help to try to make Satan the hero of this epic. The reason being because Milton wants the people and readers to view Satan as a regular man and pity him because of his flaws. Milton briefly explains how Satan is a character full of pride, which led to one of Satan’s biggest mistakes. This immense source of pride, led to Satan attempting to overthrow God, but instead it resulted in Satan being cast into Hell. Milton describes what Satan feels like now that he has been cast into Hell, “for now the thought/Both of lost happiness and lasting pain/Torments him...”(1.55-56). This, Milton uses to try to get the readers to pity Satan for his fall and not view him as an evil being. Milton describes Satan like this, because he is trying to build up the story to where Satan will overcome this flaw and become a hero. The Bible and other sources give many quotes about what the fatal flaw of pride can do to one man, and one will find that it destroys many. Satan must learn to overcome His sense of pride in order to face the challenges ahead of him and become hero. The New American Standard Bible says, “A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor”(Proverbs 29:23). This is a prime example of
In John Milton’s epic, Paradise Lost, Milton retells the story of Genesis and the fall of man. One might think that because of the Bible, the hero would most likely be God or Jesus, but there are other possibilities in this story. A basic description of a hero would be, a man, a fundamentally good person confronting challenges and overcoming them successfully. Satan, in this epic, confronts many challenges and battles severe character flaws, thus Satan is the hero in John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Satan's destructive flaws, everlasting inner struggles and his determination to wage battles in his war against God that he knows he cannot win, make him Milton's unlikely hero. Milton hints and reveals several of Satan’s flaws that would help to try to make Satan the hero of this epic. The reason being because Milton wants the people and readers to view Satan as a regular man and pity him because of his flaws. Milton briefly explains how Satan is a character full of pride, which led to one of Satan’s biggest mistakes. This immense source of pride, led to Satan attempting to overthrow God, but instead it resulted in Satan being cast into Hell. Milton describes what Satan feels like now that he has been cast into Hell, “for now the thought/Both of lost happiness and lasting pain/Torments him...”(1.55-56). This, Milton uses to try to get the readers to pity Satan for his fall and not view him as an evil being. Milton describes Satan like this, because he is trying to build up the story to where Satan will overcome this flaw and become a hero. The Bible and other sources give many quotes about what the fatal flaw of pride can do to one man, and one will find that it destroys many. Satan must learn to overcome His sense of pride in order to face the challenges ahead of him and become hero. The New American Standard Bible says, “A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor”(Proverbs 29:23). This is a prime example of