The presentation of Satan makes him seem greater than he actually is and initially draws the reader to Satan's viewpoint. In essence then, Milton's grand poetic style sets Satan up as heroic in Books I and II. Moreover, the reader can easily overlook the fact that Milton states that, whatever powers and abilities the fallen angels have in Hell, those powers and abilities come from God, who could at any moment take them away. Because the reader hears Satan's version first, the reader is unaware of the exaggerations and outright lies that are parts of Satan's magnificent speeches. These facts certainly make Satan the most interesting character in the poem - but they do not make him the hero. Also, Milton's writing in these books, and his characterization of Satan, make the archfiend understandable and unforgettable. Milton, by beginning in medias res gives Satan the first scene in the poem, a fact that makes Satan the first empathetic character. The reader's introduction to the poem is through Satan's point of view. Without question, this picture of Satan makes him heroic in his initial introduction to the reader.īesides his actions, Satan also appears heroic because the first two books focus on Hell and the fallen angels. Finally, he goes forth on his own to cross Chaos and find Earth. Satan also calls for and leads the grand council. Satan tells the other rebels that they can make "a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n" (I, 255) and adds, "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav'n" (I, 263). In those books, Satan rises off the lake of fire and delivers his heroic speech still challenging God. Most of these writers based their ideas on the picture of Satan in the first two books of Paradise Lost. Writers and critics of the Romantic era advanced the notion that Satan was a Promethean hero, pitting himself against an unjust God. However, the progression, or, more precisely, regression, of Satan's character from Book I through Book X gives a much different and much clearer picture of Milton's attitude toward Satan. Probably the most famous quote about Paradise Lost is William Blake's statement that Milton was "of the Devil's party without knowing it." While Blake may have meant something other than what is generally understood from this quotation (see "Milton's Style" in the Critical Essays), the idea that Satan is the hero, or at least a type of hero, in Paradise Lost is widespread.
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