Milton's Satan

Poem Review # 116672

Milton's Satan

An analysis of John Milton's Satan by considering the names given to him - and taken up by him - throughout the epic poem "Paradise Lost".

2,513 words () | 2 sources | MLA | 2007 Canada

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Milton's Satan is an incredibly complex character who eschews easy definitions and comparisons and how the robust composition of Satan's characteristics is what makes him such a timeless, controversial and compelling character. His aspirations to grandeur, his eternally embittered hatred, his disconcerting likeness to God, and existence as a rejected angel appeal to the reader for all of the implications they carry. In particular the paper examines how, by listening to the terms in which the narrator describes Satan, the way other characters characterize him, and the way Satan presents himself, a careful reader can gain a strong understanding of the construction of Satan in Milton's" Paradise Lost".

From the Paper:

"Discussing Satan is a problematic endeavor because he has a two-fold identity, with his beginnings as an angel of Heaven, and his later existence as the "Arch-Fiend" (1:254). Technically, Satan only comes into existence after his rebellion against God and the Son, and he is given the name of Satan, the Hebrew word for adversary. Satan's prior name "is heard no more" in Heaven or Earth, and remains throughout Paradise Lost as an unnamable name (5:258). The designation of Lucifer refers to Satan before his rebellion, but merely describes his role and does not serve as a name. For simplicity's sake, in this essay I will refer to the character of Satan by the name Satan, regardless of his manifestation at that point in the narrative."

Sample of Sources Used:

Leonard, John. Naming in Paradise: Milton & the Language of Adam and Eve. Toronto: Oxford UP, 1990.
Milton, John. The Complete Poems. Ed. John Leonard. Toronto: Penguin Books, 1998.