Interpretation of God and Satan in Paradise Lost
In John Milton's Paradise Lost, he tells of Satan's banishment from Heaven. He and his brigade have plotted war against God and are now doomed to billow in the fiery pits of hell. Satan is a complex character with many meaningful qualities. The relationship between Satan's qualities and Hell's atmosphere tell the reader more about why they seem to go hand in hand. Without Satan's features and Hell's tormenting aspects, the place would not be all it is.
Milton states that one will "dwell in adamantine chains and penal fire" if he defy's God. Satan definitely defied him and will therefore suffer this. Chains are symbolic of Satan in that they will tie one down and keep him under control. Satan has disobeyed God and needs to be tied restrained and controlled. The fire is only to show Satan's primary intentions. Fire indicates evil and pain, both of which he is a part of. He is the creator of evil just as God is the creator of all.
Milton also describes Hell as a place that one must dwell in forever more full of wrath with no happiness and constant pain. Satan once lived in a universe full of happiness, joy, and surrounded by pleasure. Now that he has forsaken God, he must live without those, but to the worst extremes. No more content or delight can he experience. He must be punished for his unfaithfulness.
Hell has "no light, but rather darkness served only to discover sights of woe." It is a "region of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace and rest can never dwell, hope never comes...but torture without end still urges." This is an atmosphere severely unlike the one from which Satan came. He was willing to give up all he had, peace, love, joy, beauty, and all alike, to overcome God and gain all of His power.
The war in Heaven was between forces of Satan and forces of God.
This equation shows that mass will not affect the speed of an object, proving that whatever the mass of an object, the speed will always remain the same if all the other factors are kept constant.
Hell is like a government. The bureaucracy is, of course, run by their “Father Below” who is Satan (Lewis 6). In other words, the system is a dictatorship. Additionally, the demons in Hell think that they can only “advance at the expense of another” (Schultz 368). Hell was not the intention God had when He gave His people free will, but it was rather a side effect (Hill and Smith). Hell was a consequence for what Satan and his followers tried to do. God created Hell for everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46). In return, Satan and his followers have devoted themselves to corrupt societies so it is easier to tempt those societies (Schultz 368). This consequence had eternal effect on everyone including God and His angels (Hill and
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The ‘folk group’ that we can see in the film is the ’82 Phi Delta Theta fraternity members. All of the members in that fraternity are sharing at least one common factor. For example, all of them are students that are decided to be Greek. As a folk group, they also shared similarities by accepting the tradition of the house and support this particular fraternity. They members of this fraternity define themselves through their brotherhood under the symbol of the ‘salamander’. As we can see in the film, they had a banner with their house symbols and a picture of green salamander—this is one of the unique things of their house compared to others.
...people did to be placed in that circle of hell but it does not show a progression of evil, if there was one, or how they got to that point. As for Milton’s Satan, the choices that he makes that ultimately transform him into this radically evil being are described. Milton definitely uses some of Dante’s ideas when it comes to describing the landscape of hell or the transformation into serpents or even the gigantomachy and perhaps repeated themes in Paradise Lost that follow a cyclic pattern similar to that of the cyclic pattern of Hell in the Inferno but I think that Milton created his own ideas when it comes to the major idea of evil and the character of Satan because those are drastically different. So when it comes to the idea of evil and Satan, Dante’s influence is minimal and almost contrasting to what happens in with the idea of evil and Satan and the Inferno.
Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost is a complex character meant to be the evil figure in the epic poem. Whenever possible Satan attempts to undermine God and the Son of God who is the true hero of the story. Throughout the story Milton tells the readers that Satan is an evil character, he is meant not to have any redeeming qualities, and to be shown completely as an unsympathetic figure. Satan’s greatest sins are pride and vanity in thinking he can overthrow God, and in the early part of the poem he is portrayed as selfish while in Heaven where all of God’s angels are loved and happy. Satan’s journey starts out as a fallen angel with great stature, has the ability to reason and argue, but by Book X the anguish and pain he goes through is more reason for him to follow an evil path instead. Even so, Milton uses literal and figurative imagery in the description of Satan’s character to manipulate the reader’s response to the possibility that Satan may actually be a heroic figure. As the plot of the story unfolds there are moments where the reader can identify with Satan’s desires and relate to his disappointments.
Milton’s adherence to orthodox views resulted in an uninspired portrait of Heaven. Hell, in contrast, was greatly developed; the vivid imagery of the volcanic and desolate terrain gave Hell a genuine ambience. Milton described Hell as a “lake of fire” (280) and commented on the “Floods and Whirlwinds of tempestuous fire” (77). He indicated that darkness is given off instead of light: “No light, but rather darkness visible” (63). The devils, especially Satan, were characterized in more detail than the angels or God. The first two books of Paradise Lost featured the fallen angels’ debate regarding their future plans. As a “true Poet” Milton sought to appeal to the emotions of his readers. The natural human inclination towards evil inspired Milton’s powerful description of Hell as opposed to his unimaginative view of Heaven.
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
We soon learn that we cannot get answers in hell, but we begin to see certain questions, and the possibility that their answers may appear when we see the actual dramatic presentation of the rebellion. For one thing, Satan’s “innumerable force” receives a definite tally later- it is only one third of the angels. And this fact will look different when we learn that God opposes the enemy force with an equal number only, and then puts a fixed limit on the individual strength of the contestants, and then sends only the Son against the rebels, and with His strength limited too. Satan puts so much concentration on having shaken the throne of god, against “His utmost power”-“Who from the terrour of this Arm so late/...
Satan frequently characterizes “the tyranny of heaven” and employs negative diction in his depictions of both heaven and God (I.124). His negative portrayals of God and his kingdom highlight his utter dissatisfaction with being subservient to God and, from that, his desire for autonomy. In the exposition of the text, Satan’s emotions toward God make themselves apparent when Satan “throws his baleful eyes / That witnessed huge affliction and dismay / Mixed with obdúrate pride and steadfast hate” (I.56-58). Satan reveals himself to be furious with his continued subjugation to God as well as his inability to truly revenge himself against his subsequent punishment. According to Satan, God’s dissimulation of his power tempted Satan and others to rise
The question of whether Satan is the hero or the villain of John Milton’s Paradise Lost has been largely debated by scholars over the centuries. The ones who believe Satan is the villain of the epic, more commonly known as the Anti-Satanists, tend to argue that Satan is too foolish to be considered a hero, as his “hostility to Almighty power” is ultimately a futile endeavour (as God’s power is omnipotent) (Carey, 135). C.W. Lewis, also an anti-Satanist, goes as far as to claim that to “admire Satan, then, is to give one’s vote not only for a world of misery, but also for a world of lies and propaganda, of wishful thinking” (Lewis, 203). The ones who claim Satan is the hero of the epic, the Satanists, perceive him as the rebellious angel who rises up and defies God’s monarchy and “the tyranny of Heav’n” (174).They choose to focus on Satan’s “nobler qualities, his loyalty in leadership, fortitude in adversity, unflinching courage and splendid recklessness” (Satan/Promo, 3). While these two positions are both valid, this paper will be focusing on a third position; the individuals who believe that Satan is neither the hero nor the villain of the epic. Helen Gardner addresses this notion, claiming how “Satan is, of course, a character in an epic, and he is no sense the hero of the epic as a whole. But he is a figure of heroic magnitude and heroic energy, and he is developed by Milton with dramatic emphasis and dramatic intensity” (Baker/Helen, 208). Satan is without a doubt the antichrist, or “villain” in the biblical scriptures, however one must take into consideration his alternative and more ambiguous portrayal in Paradise Lost. In this paper, I will analyze Satan’s actions, physical portrayal and speeches in Book I of Paradise Los...
Interpreting Satan’s rant, he says that everyone has their own mind. Whether or not they’re in Heaven or hell physically, they can make it feel as another mentally. He also questions what makes God any greater than him or him any less that God. Satan figures at least he is free to roam and rule in Hell. In his mind, being king is more important, even if it is in Hell. He also believes that by no means can God drive them away from their throne in Hell.
...nowing (Satan is just hunk of mass with no free will) and that Satan is our epic hero (Satan is head the rebel angels). Satan also loses because of the fact that due to his trickery he would be a snake forever, and that The Son was going to come down to earth and die to save Adam & Eve, so that Satan’s action would be eliminated. Break down Paradise Lost to it bare essentials, removing all religious overtones, and all that remains is an epic poem. The hero of this poem is a man named Satan who is banished for challenging the leadership of the clan. This man Satan makes a vow to destroy or corrupt anything created by the clan. This Satan was resourceful, making the best of what he had, very little, and accomplishing his goal. Satan may just be the nonconformist who could not abide by what was considered normal. In any case, one must show their admiration for Satan in his unwillingness to serve in Heaven, and then in the way he accepted his resulting role in Hell.
Paradise Lost is one of the finest examples of the epic tradition in all of literature. In composing this extraordinary work, John Milton was, for the most part, following in the manner of epic poets of past centuries: Barbara Lewalski notes that Paradise Lost is an "epic whose closest structural affinities are to Virgil's Aeneid . . . "; she continues, however, to state that we now recognize as well the influence of epic traditions and the presence of epic features other than Virgilian. Among the poem's Homeric elements are its Iliadic subject, the death and woe resulting from an act of disobedience; the portrayal of Satan as an Archillean hero motivated by a sense of injured merit and also as an Odyssean hero of wiles and craft; the description of Satan's perilous Odyssey to find a new homeland; and the battle scenes in heaven. . . . The poem also incorporates a Hesiodic gigantomachy; numerous Ovidian metamorphoses; an Ariostan Paradise of Fools; [and] Spenserian allegorical figures (Sin and Death) . . . . (3)
These lines create an aura of awe and majesty for Satan, showing his glory and splendor through material things, while at the same time inferring indirectly that this material show is all that Satan has, rather than real power or value.