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Satan In John Milton's Paradise Lost

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Satan In John Milton's Paradise Lost
Everyone, at least once in their lifetime, has been an advocate for the bad guy; whether it would be Heith Ledger, playing the Joker, verses Batman or the innocent Satan verses the tyrant God. John Milton does a fantastic job in letting his audience observe Satan in a new manner that one has not analyzed before. Milton portrays Satan as the most likable character in Paradise Lost, yet he is thought of being the foulest individual in the social realm. Satan stands above the rest of the characters in the poem, a once archangel casted out of heaven, trying to find his way in the universe. Although he is depicted as the most sentimental character of the poem, Satan is still the profound angel that society recognizes him as today. Milton’s exclusive …show more content…
According to Paradise Lost, Satan sees this idea quite differently. “Is this ... the seat”, says Satan, “That we must change for Heaven?--this mournful gloom for that celestial light? Be it so, since he who now is sovereign can dispose and bid. What shall be right: farthest from him is best whom reason hath equaled, force hath made supreme above his equals” (Milton 1951-52). Here, Satan is complaining about being bound to hell by God’s own instinctive decision, but indirectly claiming that God is a tyrant for banishing him to show his own superiority. Although this is coming from the mouth of Satan, it is secure to say that it could be a biased opinion because Satan hates God. But Satan is not the only one who views Milton’s God in that manor. Williams Empson once compared Milton’s God to the Russian dictator, Joseph Stalin because God banished Satan from heaven because he wanted to be like God (Empson 146). This is a very compelling statement due to the fact that Stalin was a feared and hated dictator of county that was condemned by the rest of the world during that time frame. To compare the Christian God to someone of tyrant statue would be preposterous, unless it was the Christian God that was described by Satan in Milton’s fantasy, in which case it would be abnormally
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