Paradise Lost Critical Lens Essay

John Milton was the first person to really create a lens to look at Satan or lucifer, and his unholy abyss of Hell. The Lens is an epic poem named, Paradise Lost, which is composed of twelve books. I am going to use this lens to analyze Satan's fall to Hell and how Hell is perceived in book one, this book starts at the end of Angles war, when lucifer and the other angles that challenged God are falling into hell.

Sent in a fireball Satan’s fall to heaven was long. It took nine days to fall from heaven to the dark sulfuric stenched pit of Hell. After Satan had fallen into Hell, we begin to see his temperament towards ruling the almighty. Satan is full of pride and rage, “Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate.” (Milton) After Satan is in Hell he starts to change physically, (break down) though chang’d in outward lustre; that fixt mind and high disdain, from sence of injur’d merit. Satan was changed and tortured in hell before he rules, which I believe fills him with more rage and that makes him a more ruthless figure in Hell.

Hell is described in such an unusually beautiful way, enough so you can see it while you read the poem.

In the beginning of this poem it describes how Satan will live in hell. “Adamantine chains and penal fire.” (Milton) Adamantine, is a type of unbreakable rock or metal, and this lines the boundaries of Hell making it literally impossible to escape. But as Satan and his crew of angles that challenged God began to look at Hell the imagery that Milton wrote becomes even more realistic. “ A dungeon horrible, on all sides round as one great furnace flam’d, yet from those flames no light.” (Milton) This passage is the first lens that we use to look at hell for the first time. Hell was described as smelling of burning sulfur which is said to be the chemical linked to demons, however, His is described as the complete opposite of

Heaven.
I am very interested in analyzing how we perceive Satan as a figure. I believe that we give Satan a poor image. I actually find it inspiring that the angel Lucifer, who becomes Satan challenges God, the most powerful thing ever. Lucifer may have lost the battle, against God, but seems to be making the most out of what he has in Hell. I also like to relate Satan to the monster from Frankenstein. Both are created against their will. Both are misunderstood and are made out to be something that they are not, because of other thinking that they are monsters by how they look or act.