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The character of satan in paradise lost
Analysis of paradise lost book 1 satan's speech
The character of satan in paradise lost
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Freedom and Satan in Paradise Lost
Satan's primary operational problem in Paradise Lost is his lack of obedience. The fundamental misunderstanding which leads to Satan's disobedience is his separation of free will from God's hierarchical power. In the angel Raphael's account, Satan tells his dominions, "Orders and Degrees/Jarr not with liberty" (5.792-93). Tempting as this differentiation seems, Satan is mistaken. Free will and hierarchical power are not mutually exclusive, as Satan suggests, but overlapping concepts. Even though Satan has been created with sufficient freedom to choose to disobey, he tacitly acknowledges God's sovereignty when he exercises his choice. Satan is constrained existentially, from the outset, by having a specific choice to make about whether or not to obey God.
Satan, just as all angels, demons, and humans, may exercise his freedom as assent or dissent, for God had created him "Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall./Such I [God] created all th' ethereal powers/And spirits . . . /Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell" (3.99-102; cf. 5.549). If Satan would choose neither to assent nor to dissent, thereby refusing to exercise his free will, he would be discarding his free will. But this is impossible, as the demons determine in counsel in Book II; so long as he exists, Satan must make choices with respect to his possible obedience to God.
If Satan's first mistake was to completely divorce his free will from God's power in giving him that freedom, his second mistake occurs in his conception of what it means to exercise that freedom. God says that "Not free, what proof could they [Satan et al.] have given sincere/Of true allegiance"? (3.103-04). But Satan has exactly the...
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...lthough one can choose, as Satan does, to dissent and disobey, such purportedly self-creative acts are in fact merely an acknowledgment of God's hierarchical power. When pride and ambition to be like God prevent humans from hearing the "umpire Conscience" God has placed within us (3.195; Satan likewise has been given conscience enough to remember the call to obedience, 4.23), we become like Satan, for the same reasons constrained to listen only to the Satanic voice dissenting in our ears.
Works Cited
Scott Elledge, ed., Paradise Lost, second edn. (NY: Norton, 1993).
Millicent Bell, "The Fallacy of the Fall in Paradise Lost," PMLA 68 (1953), 863-83; here p. 878.
Northrop Frye, The Return of Eden (Buffalo: Univ. of Toronto, 1965), 39-40, 43
Barbara Lewalski, Paradise Lost and the Rhetoric of Literary Forms (Princeton: Princeton U. , 1985), 174.
Disobedience causes disaster, not only for those involved but for all of humanity in Paradise Lost. While Adam and Eve are cast out of The Garden of Eden, their penalty extends to subsequent generations. In book 10, line 274, Milton employs an epic simile to convey this to the reader.
As the author highlighted in this book, the quickest way to be diagnosed for prostate cancer is to be screened for it; the same notion applies for many other diseases and illness. With the advent of the technological age, doctors are now able to see more than they did before, and therefore, are more quick to diagnose illnesses and cancers early. As Welch explains, the problem with that is that not all illness or cancers will kill you; some cancers will stick around, but never cause any harm. So, this leads to screening for cancers that were never going to kill a patient, that end up being detected early on and dealt with, thus giving credit to early screening as a success story. As Welch explains, most illnesses and injuries that undertake a natural course of events, without medical intervention, usually heal on their own. This is problematic because it creates this idea that medical intervention is helpful and necessary, when that is not always the case. In general, as a society, the benefits of medical care have been over-exaggerated, while the harms of medical care have been largely ignored. If Welchs’ instructions were followed, a closer examination of the effect of screenings and tests would be the new medical
noticed that in a number of films the father is dead thus it is impossible to protect his children, such as in Cinderella. Also stepfathers seem to not be portrayed in pop culture as evil thus stepmothers are the only ones that receive such hideous flack. Because stepfathers are not portrayed in a negative way, when it comes to real life they have less difficultly finding their place in their new family. (Church 1994) (Hall and Bishop 2009)
Milton prompts the reader to understand God’s grace as the most almighty and powerful aspect within the first twenty-six lines. God is a powerful ruler who bestows blessings if his policies are followed and eternal damnation if not. The first two books of Paradise Lost portray Satan as a confused, resentful man who feels the need to rebel against God. Since Satan rebelled against God, he was banished from heaven and summoned into an eternal hell. While in hell, Satan gathered his fallen angels for a pep talk and exclaimed to them, “Farewell, happy fields, where joy forever dwell; in my choice to reign is worth ambition though in Hell” (Book 1, Line 1). In this exclamation Satan bids adieu to the pleasure and blissful surroundings of paradise and greets the gloom and dreadfulness that now surround him with open arms. The reader can conclude that Milton relays Satan’s speech as remorseful and full of regret at the penalty of his rebellious actions, but accepts what he has done and is ready to rule the underworld. The reader can also note one difference between Satan and God in this passage because unlike God, Satan chose to speak to all who follow him and wanted their feedback for his rebellious plans. Satan continues his speech by adding, “Receive thy new possessor. Not to be changed by place or time” (Book 1, Line 1). Satan is regulating his mental perception as he greets Hell. He portrays himself as equipped and ready for Hell to receive him as the leader. Like God, Satan brought his autonomous mentality, free of time or location, to Hell. As the new supreme leader of the underworld, with his independent mind, Satan boldly compares himself to God through the element of
One of the pull factors, or issues that caused Germans to want to leave Germany that originated from outside the country, of the German immigration to New York was the many advertisements in foreign countries promoting cheap land in New York. This was due to an abundance of land for small fees under the Homestead Act. This was an ideal solution for the farmers who lost their jobs. They could migrate to New York and start farming here. Also, industrial jobs important role in the promoting of New...
...s, by his own free will, to continue to worship the devil "Faustus vows never to look to Heaven, never to the name God, or to pray to him, to burn his Scriptures, slay his ministers and to make my spirits pull his churches down." (Pg. 28, Marlowe) Therefore, there is no single cause of evil and when humankind does evil; it is the cause of its own evil doing.
“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” (1:14)
Although there is a risk of upsetting people who are not worried about the health and wellbeing of today’s youth with selfish reasoning for wanting to keep junk food, ridding schools of junk foods will prove itself to be very beneficial. Children can choose healthier options without being ridiculed by others, wondering if what they are eating is good for them, and/or worrying about negative effects. One’s health cannot be overlooked as it is the livelihood of that person and much more. It is not a subject that can be taken lightly. Action to change the current conditions of America’s population’s
Milton, John. Paradise Lost. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 8th ed. Vol. A. gen
Schools, nor any other institution that will be providing education cannot refuse to give your/any child the service needed because it costs too much. The Federal Law, IDEA requires school to provide the services a child needs to gain a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) means at no cost to the parents. According to Altshuler and Kopels (2003), Advocating in Schools for Children with Disabilities: What’s New with IDEA?” States that it is mandated a variety of legal rights to have a free and appropriate public education provided in the least restrictive area/environment. For this reason parents are their children’s best advocates. Parents know their children better than anyone else. No matter the circumstances a parent sees all the flaw and potential at home that a teacher or administrator will never see.
[W]e are saying that something is wrong... with capitalism... There must be better distribution of wealth and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism. Call it what you may, call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all…
Milton's introduction of Satan shows the reader how significant Satan is to Paradise Lost. He uses Satan's heroic qualities to his followers, and his ability to corrupt to show the thin line between good and evil. Satan was one of the highest angels in Heaven and was know as Lucifer, meaning, light bearer. This shows he was once a good angel. Milton makes the reader see him as a leader and a strong influence to all in his presence. He best describes Satan's ways when stating, "His pride/ had cast him out from Heaven, with all his host. / Of rebel angels, by whose aspiring/ To set himself in glory above his peers" (Milton Book I). Satan's pride was the main reason that God banned him from heaven. Satan always tried to be number one and a leader, instead of following in God's shadow. He would of lived a life in Paradise forever, but he had to follow his feelings as he states, "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven" (Milton 31). This shows how strongly he felt about not being above everybody else.
In scripture, we can see that more than once Jesus cast out demons from people and had the power to shut their mouths. In Luke 11:14 one can see the power of Christ over demons, “And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed.” Another place in scripture that we can see where evil gets its power from is in the book of Job. Satan had to ask for God’s permission to torment Job. We know by this that any authority Satan has, has been given to him by God. God has given him the authority over worldly things as mentioned in John 14:20; however, it is important to remember that Satan cannot do anything that is outside of God’s will and purposes. In 1 John 4:4 we are reminded that as long as we have Christ in us, we ...
Ask anyone to draw Satan and you 'll get a red snake-like figure with horns and a pitchfork. Satan, as introduced in the Hebrew bible is an unworthy adversary of God. His longing to be like God is quickly recognized and dealt with. God banishes him from Heaven and sends him to Hell. That 's the last we see of him until he talks with God about his faithful servant Job. In each interaction we see Satan in, we get only a glimpse of who he really is. Satan 's motive is not developed and we assume he does evil simply because he is evil
middle of paper ... ... Answerable Style Essays on Paradise Lost. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 1953. Print.