The Portrayal of as a Heroic Character in the "Paradise Lost"
Satan, in any literary piece, thought to be a sympathetic or heroic character? Impossible, but Milton does the unimaginable by changing reader’s viewpoint of him in Paradise Lost. By using convincing diction and relatable traits, readers begin Paradise Lost thinking Satan will be the hero protagonist of the poems. From the beginning of Paradise Lost readers start to think of Satan to be unlike any other Satan they have heard about and different from the Satan in the Bible. Early on Milton creates Satan’s heroic stance by writing his character to be one who struggles with his own weakness and faces many trials and tribulations which cause him to be the person he is. Milton writes his character this way because he wants readers to relate to him and feel compassion and follows the heroic epic structure whether he intends to or not. But, even with the sympathy of the readers, Satan still is evil, like how he tries to persuade Adam and Eve to be more like him.
Critics of this Romantic era poem proclaim Milton’s Satan to be a hero, allowing pitting on himself because he was the victim of, in his opinion, an unjust God. In the first two books, Satan delivers many heroic speeches challenging the leadership of God and preaches to the other victim of the unjust God that it is 'Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav'n'. Satan knows exactly what to say to the crowds making himself seem heroic as the first image the reader has of him and because the start of the poems is based on his point of view. The readers feel for him because he was kicked out of Heaven and anyone sent to Hell should be felt sorry for. All his actions are followed with a consequence; for example he tempts Adam and Eve and is turned into a Serpent that everyone fears, “A monstrous Serpent on his Belly prone.” Besides all his speeches and actions, Satan also appears heroic because of Milton’s focus on the fallen angels of Hell. By making readers believe Satan to be a hero so early on, Milton also causes readers to think of him as a sympathetic character. Milton knew exactly how to write Satan to appeal to readers as someone they can relate to and understand. By hearing Satan’s side of the story first, readers assume he is a different “Satan” than he is in The Bible. But, Milton did not purposely intent for readers to consider him a heroic figure. His speeches are simply exaggerations and one must understand that being powerful in Hell does not make him any sort of hero. Satan is the ruler of Hell, which to the average person is not an achievement to brag about, but the way he was granted the role of ruler is one many find motivational. He encourages all the people of Hell to not look down on themselves and fight for their lives, as he preaches that Heaven is not the place they want to be, remember he was kicked out of Heaven, so why would he ever say good things about a place he is not allowed in. Phrases like, “a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n' are appealing to the demons of Hell, once again, causing readers and fallen angels alike to believe everything he says.
Milton's writing style also allows Satan to appeal like quite the hero from the beginning. How Satan is presented makes readers believe every word and action he says and does. Milton purposely draws more attention to the development of Satan so throughout the entire poem, he is still of interest to the readers, causing them to eventually feel compassion towards his evil actions. The reader having a constant interest of Satan causes readers to fear the worst, that maybe they are more like Satan than they want to admit, which is quite the change from the Satan seen in The Bible. Countless times throughout the poem, Satan does a miraculous job of causing the readers to feel compassion for him because he is living in Hell, the place no one wants to even image being in. His unhappiness and pain is beginning to show, “Me miserable” and “To which the hell I suffer.”
Satan’s character changes significantly from book to book, but his ability to persuade everyone around him stays put. He goes from being a strong character with many abilities, to being a deceitful disgusting serpent that can convince any human of anything because of his charming character. Milton writes Satan as quite the con artist with the intention of to making readers feel like they can relate to Satan and his situation. First Satan is admirable but, by Book IV he is a different character, bringing Hell with him wherever he goes. Milton starts with Satan being lovable to first persuade readers to think of Satan as someone they can relate to, because we all face troubles that cause us to act out of our normal character. In Book IV, Satan plays the victim card by expressing his reasoning for all the evil he commits; living in Hell makes him want to be more and more evil. But, when Satan is placed on Earth it seems like he will turn a new leaf, but he continues to create and cause more evil on Earth, like persuading Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Despite Satan and his many evil actions in the story, there are still many compelling characteristics that make him so interesting to the readers of Paradise Lost. It is very evident of Satan’s shift in motives from book to book, as he continues to try and receive God’s mercy. When he is not getting what he wants things start to change for the worst as, he beginnings disrupting God’s plans and tempting Adam and Eve. Satan admits that his change and behavior is due to his wanting to impress the other fallen angels.
Satan’s biggest downfall is his pride. Satan continues to plead for attention by using the fact that he was “kicked out” of Heaven by God himself to make people feel compassion for him. Satan had a different mindset than God in Heaven that most do not have and according to the Bible, he continued to be the selfish person and believed that he should be the ruler of Heaven. All these attributes are qualifying reasons why Satan would be critiqued as the devil, but somehow Milton’s writing and word choice made readers look past his negative characteristics and relate to him. In Book IV, Satan begins to share the pain he feels with the readers about how he feels on Earth, he does this to make others feel sorry for him, and it works. In Book IV, Satan begins to realize he may not be as strong as he depicts himself, “O had his powerful destiny ordained”.The readers begin to identify with him and his earring to seem like a strong character who can achieve anything. Milton from the start does an exceptional job making Satan seems like some sort of hero who has faced far more than anyone should to make the readers sympathize with him without the readers even realizing it, because who wants to admit that they feel for Satan, but readers begin to think about what causes themselves pain.
Milton challenges what is said in The Bible to a great extent. By focusing on Satan being expelled from Heaven causes the readers to take a second and think about all the lessons preached in the Holy Word, like God will always love and forgive you despite what sin you commit. But, Satan is not included in the love of God because of the temptation he causes Man with the Tree of Knowledge and the forbidden fruit. Satan is given the ultimate punishment by God, and Milton focusing so heavily on the punishment causes readers to feel bad for him that he did something so horrible that the love of God is not upon him. Milton does this on purpose.
Milton achieved his purpose of making readers realize and think that “Wow I am just like Satan.” He does this not to make the readers worry about their own personal characteristics, but to make readers think beyond and look past the sins Satan, but to think about the lessons his sins can teach. Satan in Paradise Lost is compelling and is just like any other average person as, he too falls victim to his pride. Satan feels the same level of pain every human being feels and no one likes to feel pain. Pain causes human beings to connect with one another, because despite how perfect you are, you will still be faced with horrible times. Satan does bring most of his pain on himself, but Milton does this on purpose. He wants the readers to realize that yes Satan can stop being so evil and simply behave, but that is not as easy as it sounds. Satan is hopeless and evil was the way he was made. He cannot control his actions to an extent. It is evident that Satan is frustrated by his actions and does not want to be as evil as he is. He wants peace in his life, but he is deemed a life of complete misery.
Milton’s Satan gives the readers an example of their own lives. An example and message that all humans go through times where they regret and wish they could just have a moment of peace, and when readers realize that yes Satan is evil, but sometimes he means well readers begin to find countless ways they can relate to him and his character. Satan is an example of human error; we all are prideful and evil in our own sense. Milton did not write Paradise Lost with the intention of causing readers to feel for Satan, but he intended for readers to see Satan as not just an evil person who only lives his life out of revenge for being excelled to Hell. The author’s purpose was to make readers believe Satan is in fact a sympathetic character whom we all relate to because we all are faced with trials that cause us to not act our best self.
