People are blind; we sometimes are not able to even see what is directly in front of our own eyes because our nativity does not allow it. We want to believe in something so bad that even if the truth is right in front of us we ignore it in favour of the situation that better meets our personal believes. We cannot just simply see things for what they are and we read too much into things. It is a common misconception that Milton’s Satan in “Paradise Lost” is actually the hero. People believe this for the simple reason that we can relate to him more so than we can relate to the omnificent god. Satan is portrayed with human virtues and values: defiance, anger, arrogance, and regret. God is nearly impossible to relate to in Paradise Lost because he is perfect and we can’t sympathise with this.
Satan is an archangel that falls from grace due to his jealously of god’s son. He convinces one third of the angels to follow him in his rebellion. In the development of Milton’s Satan we see into his heart and soul, we see the reasons behind the choices that he makes and we are able to see his inner struggles, which ultimately allow us to identify with him. Satan, hot form the passion of war states, “Better to reign in Hell than serve in heaven”. (Book 1, line 263) This shows the arrogance of Satan. He has lost something that was truly good and he is trying to justify his decision. We later see moments of regret.
“One step no more than from himself can fly
By change of place: now conscience wakes despair
That slumbered, wakes the bitter memory
Of what he was, what is, and what must be
Worse; of worse deeds worse sufferings must ensue.” (Book 4, lines 22-26)
Satan cannot escape what he has become and knows that this is just he beginning, things are still worse to come. This weakness conjures up sympathy form the reader on behalf of Satan.
Satan has just fallen from heaven so he is not all bad. He is compelled momentarily to be good when he first sees Eve in Eden. Her beauty catches him off guard, which also allows the reader to see weakness in his character. But soon after admiration of Eve, Satan recalls the pleasure of heaven that was taken away from him when he was cast out.
“That space the Evil One abstracted stood
From his own evil, and for the first time remained
Stupidly good, of enmity disarmed,
Of guile, of hate, of envy, of revenge;
But the hot hell that always in him burns,
Though in mid-heav’n, soon ended his delight,
And tortures him now more, the more he sees
Of pleasure not for him ordained: then soon
Fierce hate he recollects”
Milton transforms God and the angels into palpable beings, humans with wings. Heaven is seen as a dictatorship with God at its head. We sympathize with uprisings against dictatorship because a dictator is seen to be someone who takes away ones freedoms and in today’s society freedom is one of the most valued aspects of life. What some people are too stubborn to see is that although god is palpable in the story his dictatorship is benevolent. God does not want to take away our freedom and ultimately he wants us to live in paradise with him at his godhead.
“Scepter and power, thy giving, I assume,
And gladlier shall resign, when in the end
Thou shalt be all in all, and I in thee
Forever, and in me all whom thy lov’st:” (Book 6, lines 730-733)
God wants to sit beside man in the new paradise not as his ruler but as his comrade. He would gladly give all of his power because he would no longer need it. Man would be him and he would be man. They would be one in the same.
Although it is easy enough to see Satan as a hero for the simple reason that we can relate to him, take for a moment the whole picture. In a perfect place, heaven, God asks for a volunteer to fall to earth and die for the sins of man. The only volunteer was gods’ son so god tells the other angles that he is giving his power to him and that they should bow to him. Satan who was a high-ranking archangel sees this as an act of favouritism and hastily gathers up some followers and tries to over throw gods kingdom. Satan, on his path of deception, sees god in his own cruelty and as a tyrant that is uncontrolled by the laws of justice. The simple fact is that Satan over reacted to god’s decision. God wants to beside man in the kingdom heaven.
Satan is a manipulative, jealous and angry character. He is jealous of Adam and Eve and the garden in which they live. He sees the tranquility of it and it reminds him of the heaven that he gave up. He manipulates Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, therefore causing the fall of mankind. Satan has a great anger towards god. All of these attributes lets us relate even more towards Satan. But what we have to realize is that God gave man the perfect garden, untouched by a non-existing evil. And Satan appeared and took that away from man. He took something that was absolute and pure and turned it into a world of sin and death. According to Milton this will ultimately lead us to a greater paradise however when Satan caused the fall it can be sure that he was not thinking that he was doing it for the eventual betterment of mankind. He could not see what he was ultimately doing and was just trying to cause trouble in paradise.
I have tried to show that Satan is not the hero of “Paradise Lost”. Rather he was the catalyst that, according to Milton, will lead us into a new paradise along side of god. It is amusing to think that the very reason Satan rebelled against god, god-giving power to his son, would be the end result that all of mankind would enjoy. Satan was a shortsighted character that could not see the big picture. God does not want to rule but rather wants live along side of man in paradise created by not only him but also of man.
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