Analysis of The Presentation of Satan in Paradise Lost

Many people over the past centuries have been trying to determine who the main protagonist of Paradise Lost really is. The eternal battle that exists between the forces of good and the forces of evil is a central theme throughout much of the world’s literature. Evil characters are typically identified through their associations with tragedy, anger, confusion and despondency, typically as the instigators of these experiences in the lives of the protagonists. As the ultimate expression of evil, one of the most often seen characters in both religious and secular literature forms continues to be about Satan. Even the Holy Quran makes frequent allusions to this character and his background. In other forms of literature, Satan is depicted in a variety of different ways, similar to the way in which several other popular fictional characters take on different attributes as they progress through time and interpretation. There are many reasons these differences emerge, including religious or philosophical interpretations, social settings at the time the work is written as well as the social understanding of the time period in which the story is set and the attitudes of the author toward the character. Although there are several characters that continue to appear in literature throughout history, Satan takes on a special significance precisely because of his central role in the production of evil action as well as his inherently malleable character from the beginning. Because he has been the subject of a great deal of serious treatment, Satan is a character worthy of further exploration in working out the similarities and differences of his portrayal within both the Arabic and English literary traditions by referring to specific works in which he holds a key role.

Satan’s importance to the fundamental tale behind Paradise Lost is apparent from his first introduction. Milton’s sympathetic portrayal of the fallen angel plunges into the depths of the character, presenting a powerful and complex image of Satan that betrays Milton’s own ability to relate to the character’s situation. Throughout the epic poem, Milton abstains from making a clear judgment on Satan, presenting the reader with a number of viewpoints and allowing the reader to determine whether Satan is entirely evil. Milton endows his character with magniloquence and heroic qualities that allow him to appear overwhelmingly impressive to his followers as well as to those within hearing of his voice. At the same time, Satan proves to have an impressive ability to corrupt those around him, effortlessly convincing them of his own good despite knowledge to the contrary. In doing this, Milton illustrates how the line between good and evil is not always sharply defined and highlighted but can instead often hide behind a silver tongue or a beautiful voice.

The presentation of Satan in Paradise Lost has long been a source of critical debate among literary critics since its production in 1667. It has been suggested by several critics that Milton never intended for Satan to be seen in an admirable light. Regardless of what his intention was, though, this portrayal of the character remains sufficiently ambiguous as to allow for a wide variety of conflicting interpretations. Despite their differences, critics generally classify Satan in one of two major categories, he’s either the hero or he’s the antagonist depending upon the standpoint taken by the critic toward the work in general. As it can be seen in the character himself, the complex and subtle nature of Milton's epic allows people of varying perspectives to come to different interpretations. While there can be many reasonable considerations regarding Milton’s intentions and how well they match with these various interpretations, the question of whether this is a valid or necessary discussion in determining the significance of the work remains itself a matter of various interpretations.

It is generally understood that Milton’s intention in writing the epic was to explain the biblical story of Adam and Eve in expanded terms. Although the epic is similar to the Biblical story in a number of ways, Milton’s story is structured quite differently from the story told in the Bible. Throughout the poem, Milton attempts to portray his characters in a more humanistic light, giving them depth and form rather than the two-dimensional images seen in biblical texts. In the second book of Paradise Lost, Satan is seen as an individual possessing several heroic traits, including a tragic flaw in his interpretations that eventually leads to his downfall. Many critics have pointed out the various methods by which Milton constructs this heroic view of Satan. One of these constructs is the presentation of Satan as one of the best and brightest angels in heaven, holding a position of significance even as compared to the other angels. He is described as one of the wisest and most beautiful of the angels, but his power remains the most significant clue to his character. The characteristics Milton associates with Satan’s heavenly position subtly allow the reader to begin identifying Satan as the second in command in heaven, holding a position nearly equal to God himself. This positioning is essential in explaining not only how Satan might begin to have thoughts of rebellion, but also providing motivation for the other angels to follow his lead. Satan’s depiction as a heroic figure doomed to failure helped give rise to a new classification in heroic literature, that of the ‘suffering hero’. While true heroes are rewarded at the end, a suffering hero is punished.

This somewhat sympathetic view of Satan began to change during the Romantic period, which occurred during the first part of the 1800s. For example, C. S. Lewis believed that 'To admire Satan in Paradise Lost 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, of incessant autobiography.' His expression of his views of Satan in Paradise Lost is perhaps the best representation of Romantic thought on the subject.

What we see in Satan is the horrible co-existence of a subtle and incessant intellectual activity with an incapacity to understand anything. This disaster he has brought upon himself; in order to avoid seeing one thing he has, almost voluntarily, incapacitated himself from seeing at all. And thus, throughout the poem, all his torments come, in a sense, at his own bidding, and the Divine judgment might have been expressed in the words ‘thy will be done.’ He says ‘Evil be thou my good’ (which includes ‘Nonsense be thou my sense:’) and his prayer is granted.’

Far from seeing Satan as a suffering heroic character, Lewis calls Milton’s Satan a comic spirit within the text. To Lewis, Satan is a character who exists without the capacity 'to understand anything'. Helen Gardner, on the other hand, views Satan's characterization as basically tragic.

Not all critics focus exclusively upon the basic character of Satan as he was intended or appears, though, instead attempting to examine why this character has such a dramatic effect upon his readers. Neil Forsyth's The Satanic Epic attempts to explain how and why Milton's Satan is so tempting. Within this work, Forsyth emphasizes the importance of Satan against those like Lewis who would minimize the poem's compassion with the devil. By doing this, Forsyth again illustrates the depth of not only the character, but also of Milton’s understanding of him. Citing William Blake, Forsyth agrees with Blake’s assessment of Milton as a true poet because he was 'of the Devil’s party' even though his intention was 'to justify the ways of God to men.' In his search to learn why Satan is so appealing, Forsyth digs deep into a range of topics including the origins of evil, the significance of witchcraft to the status of the poetic narrator, the epic tradition, the nature of love between the sexes, and seventeenth-century astronomy.Forsyth considers each of these topics as Milton introduces them: as Satanic subjects.

Throughout this analysis, Satan emerges not as a necessarily evil individual but instead as the major opponent to Christian faith, a subtle but distinct difference. It is Satan who doubts and speculates and denounces. He is the skeptic who gives voice to many of the arguments that Christianity has instigated from within and without. By rooting his Satanic interpretation of Paradise Lost through Biblical and other sources that would have possibly been available to Milton, Forsyth finds not only an attractive and heroic Satan but a Milton whose energies are personified in a Satanic character with an existence of his own.