Gods Grace Lost in the Devil is Proud:

A Heroic Tale of a Fallen Angel in Milton's "Paradise Lost"

    There are only characters in a heroic tale. It is up to the reader to interpret which ones are evil and which ones are good. The reader must use their interpretations to decide who they feel is evil or good based on previous knowledge and experience. It would appear that Milton wrote “Paradise Lost” for the reader to view God as the protagonist and Satan as the antagonist, though while looking at the language and speech given by Satan, one would make assumptions that Satan is the protagonist, rather than the antagonist. This fact however, is no mistake on Milton’s part. It would appear that Milton created the language for Satan in a way for the reader to sympathize with Satan and be lured into his character, just as Adam and Eve did during the fall from paradise. It is a well used tool to illustrate how easy it is for one to side with Satan. Even knowing that Satan is the intended antagonist, the reader can still feel sympathy for him and is lured by his sly treachery, sometimes even unknowingly, just like Adam and Eve. This proves to be very effective on the reader, reinforcing Satan’s deceit and Milton achieves this disillusion in many different ways. The sentimentality that the reader feels for Satan is due to many aspects of the poem that readers interpret to create a connection with a hero.

    The ambiguity of the word “heroic” makes it very difficult to interpret who is the hero in this epic tale 1 .This ambiguity leaves the field open for critics to argue who is considered to be the hero based on their interpretations and what they feel is their definition of a hero. The three that are generally under discussion are the son, Satan and Adam (Steadman, 88). The interpretations vary from critic to critic, though when looking at the structure of the poem the reader can conclude that it would appear that Satan is created to be the hero in “Paradise Lost”.

    Milton creates Satan to be the hero to illustrate how Adam and Eve were deceived so easily, though the structure in many cases illustrates how the reader can sympathize with Satan and perceive him to be the hero. The reader first begins to feel that Satan is the hero based on the structure of the stereotypical elements of the fairy/heroic tale that Paradise Lost shares. According to Vladimir Propp and many other writers who analyse the patterns of fairy and heroic tales, all heroes share similar narratives (Yen, 166) 2 . Epic narration generally begins with someone who is banished or has left their original home and then is cheated by an interdiction, which normally then presents the villain. After the presence of the villain, a conflict is then set for the hero (Yen, 165). After they are normally presented with a journey or a task which normally demands for them to return to their original home and to defeat the villain and return to their rightful status.

    This generalization is no different in Paradise Lost. Satan begins by attempting to achieve Gods seat in heaven which he thought was stolen away. He creates an army of angels and battle then takes place between the two groups of angels. After the battle Satan is defeated and is banished from his home to what appears to be a lake of fire. During this period he feels cheated and cannot understand why he has been defeated. He devises a plan and is faced with a challenge. While on the fiery lake he proposes a great adventure, to travel a great distance from his current state back to heaven and to once again regain what he thought he had lost. This is where the first signs of Satan becoming the hero of the poem are depicted. Satan’s “ambition is indeed a fault, though it nevertheless has somewhat heroic in it, and therefore must have place in a heroic poem” (Steadman, 273).

    The villain in this case would be God who has cheated Satan out of kingship from heaven. This narration follows the heroic elements perfectly. A man cheated out of kingship is banished by the villain. The hero then with help from his friends is faced with a challenge which normally requires heroism and bravery to accomplish. This challenge of course for Satan is to take advantage of Gods creation and to cause them to sin, in hopes of gaining kingship back in heaven. This idea of heroism and bravery is very similar to Greek heroic tales like, “the Odyssey”, “The Iliad” and “Antigone” 3 . All of these tales share similar narration with Paradise Lost. With today’s society becoming increasingly used to these stereotypical elements, it would be easy to classify Satan as the hero and God as the antagonist.

    Aside from structure, Satan is seen as tragic throughout the poem because he appears to be the underdog. Satan appeals to “an easily-comprehensible emotion: the nostalgia of lost youth” (Foley, 52). In Paradise Lost, Satan is significantly weaker then God. It is the pitiless insight that Satan describes his fall into his own nature. The true cause of his fall is what enables the reader to realize the magnitude of Satan’s tragedy. He alludes to his weakness and his tragedy in many cases at the beginning of the poem “how glorious once above thy sphere/ Till pride and worse ambition threw me down/ Warring in heaven against heavens matchless king” (IV: 39-41).This weakness that Satan possesses is what largely creates the reader to be sympathetic towards his side. Also in many of Satan’s soliloquies, he declares his tragic despair and his false hope “By false presumptuous hope, the ranged powers/ Disband, and wandering, each his several way/ Pursues, as inclination or a sad choice” (II: 522-524). This form of sympathy began ever since the “Age of Sensibility” and the Romantic period 4 . Readers began to be indulged with misfortunes of the lower classes and would read anything to excite their emotions. Now, that society is accustomed to indulging in sentimentality and misfortunes towards lower classes, Satan is favoured more highly by the reader. The population enjoys reading about the underdog who escapes fate and succeeds defeating the cheating and manipulative villain.

    Satan would appear to be this type of character. He is defeated by God at the beginning of the poem and is sent down to a fiery lake. He was once in heaven a wonderful place with no care, and then is sent to a “dungeon horrible, on all sides round/ As one great furnace flamed, yet from those flames/ No light, but rather darkness visible” (I: 61- 63). Here is where the tragedy of Satan is illustrated and his ambition to better himself is also illustrated. He then picks himself up and creates pandemonium and states it is “better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heaven” (II: 263). These lines illustrate the disillusioned mind of Satan. He continually changes his mind and thoughts about his devious plan. While under this state of deprivation and denial, Milton creates Satan to develop many mental weaknesses.

    Milton’s character of Satan appears to be very weak minded. Satan’s characteristics are similar to those of a child. Throughout the poem he cannot understand how he is not the greatest of all angels and how God can be more superior then himself. As well, he cannot understand how his army lost the war against those who sided with God. He continues to be caught in his own delusions. He loses the capacity to be able to distinguish what he believes is right and what he believes is wrong. He loses the capacity of his own thoughts and cannot distinguish what his main ambition is. As the poem progresses, Satan’s mind begins to reflect onto his appearance the longer he remains banished from Heaven. His body deteriorates to things increasingly of little value, illustrating his growing weakness.

    There are two sides to this deterioration. It can be seen that it is his distance from heaven and his evil exiting his body or it can be created by God. God could be degrading Satan, torturing him until he finally turns him into king of the serpents only to eat nothing but ash and to never stand upright ever again (X: 505-520). God degrading and manipulating Satan only further allows the reader to become more sympathetic towards Satan. The fact is that Satan has no control over his failure and his future is very similar to the typical hero in epic and heroic tales. This is always a barrier that the reader always wishes to see the hero to surpass.

    This idea of pre-determination over Satan, Adam and Eve created by God is another way to sympathize with Satan rather then Milton’s God. The misuse of knowledge and ability to be omniscient by God creates a large suspicion for his justification. Milton explains that the purpose of “Paradise Lost” is “to justify the ways of God to men”, though it seems that his ways are very misleading and sinful (I: 27). It would appear that God can manipulate those who surround him and unfortunately, in many cases his actions can be seen to have deviant aspects. Milton’s God appears to be a puppet master, controlling his creations for his own pleasure. He created human life “for not to irksome toil, but to delight” illustrating what appears to be a very shallow God (IX: 242). God with the exception of his creation of humankind also manipulates Adam and Eve. God creates paradise with the tree of knowledge and created Adam and Eve knowing they will be tempted by the tree and will be tricked by Satan to eat the apple. God lets Satan within the walls of paradise to commit the deviant act and lets mankind fall only to allow them to further reinforce their obedience and worship towards him. Here the reader can see that God has broke the first sin of all, the sin of not taking pride in ones self.

    This pride that God appears to have creates him to be much stronger then Satan and abuses his power by taunting Satan with misguidance. God uses Satan also as a puppet like Adam and Eve. God manipulates Satan to carry out his devious plan with the humans. The fall of humanity should be blamed on God rather then Satan. Satan was only a puppet guided by God himself to let the humans to their downfall. Throughout the poem Satan is following a trail of clues led by God to Adam and Eve and their fall. If God is omniscient and he still continued to let Satan, sin and evil within heaven, he would appear to be a deviant God, therefore it makes it very easy for the reader to side with the character that has no control over his fate and is being manipulated by an evil entity such as God. The absolute power that God holds over the universe is like many kings and dictators that would normally be claimed to be deviant. These similarities of God and being an absolutist monarch could be once again justified as deviant acts. The contrast between the deviant acts of God and Satan are only distinguished between powers. Satan has no power and only performs his deviant act through Gods will. This may be seen as an atheist stand point, though if one looks at God’s intentions and Satan’s, one can find it very difficult to see Satan as the villain since he has no control over his deviancy.

    Unfortunately, it is difficult to justify exactly what are the defining characteristics of a heroic character. Every reader has different expectations of what they feel are heroic deeds and qualities based upon what they believe in life. The only method is to make generalizations like Popp and others have done. If one takes the reoccurring characteristics of a hero such as Odysseus, Achilles, Antigone, Oedipus and other Greek mythology heroes, one can see that Satan fits into this category. His defeat and his great task to rise once again illustrate bravery and heroism characteristics. The reader sides their sympathy and sentiments towards Satan instead of Adam or God because they appear to be more at fault, while Satan only seems to be a peon and a much larger game. This interpretation illustrates exactly what Milton intended. For the reader to feel Satan’s sympathy and to side with him rather to God just like Adam and Eve did, though I believe Milton made the mistake of creating Satan too appealing and crossing the line, making him appear to be the heroic character of Paradise Lost. As mentioned previously, it is up to the reader to make their own interpretations and conclude who they believe is hero for them, whether it is obvious or not so obvious, nothing is what it seems, do not be afraid to play devils advocate.

Works Cited

Foley, Jack. “Sin, Not Time: Satan's First Speech in Paradise Lost.” ELH 37. 1 (Marc., 1970): 37-56.

Milton, John. “Paradise Lost.” John Milton: The Major Works. Ed. Stephen Orgeland Jonathan Goldberg. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. 355-618.

Steadman, John. “Heroic Virtue and the Divine Image in Paradise Lost.” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 22. 1/2 (Jan.- Jun., 1959): 88-105.

Steadman, John. “The Idea of Satan as the Hero of Paradise Lost.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 120. 4.(Aug, 1976): 253-294

Yen, Alsace. “On Vladimir Propp and Albert B. Lord: Their Theoretical Differences.” The Journal of American Folklore 86. 340. (Apr. - Jun., 1973): 161-166.