How far do you go along with the idea that Satan’s evil comes from choice
rather than an uncontrollable urge?
Satan is a complex character in Paradise Lost. Initially presented like an epic hero travelling
through the world to seek his next vessel, he gains sympathy from the reader as his
speeches are revealing and personal. Through his thoughts, we are able to grasp his
reasons for committing evil that suggests that Satan’s evil derives from his own choice and
free will rather than an uncontrollable urge.
Satan is able to recognise the goodness in God’s creations despite hating him. He is able to
see the beauty of Earth with its natural “hill and valley, rivers, woods and plains”, suggesting
that he does have goodness inside of him whilst admiring God’s work. However he states
that “the more I see/ Pleasures about me, so much more I feel/ Torment within me”. Milton
repeats the personal pronouns, “I” and “me”, embedding them into the syntax of the
sentence with the oxymoronic “pleasures” and “torment”, suggesting Satan’s circling and
entrapment of emotions and confliction when he sees such greatness in God’s creation.
“Pleasure” and “Torment” are also placed at the beginning of each line, highlighting the two
contradictions that he feels. The fact that he is able to recognise goodness shows that he is
capable of being good too, despite his conflicted feelings. He is not presented as just pure
evil, but that he sides with evil due to his bitter feelings due to his expulsion from Heaven.
This confliction of good and evil greatly contrasts the early Christian depictions of Satan,
who was presented as a pure evil force in order to vindicate mankind’s fall. Satan’s fall
parallels with mankind’s in the way that Milton presents how one can easily fall due to free
will.
Satan’s reasoning for choosing evil can be seen as a product of his own jealousy and spite.
Because of his distorted view on God and his creations, in Satan’s perspective, everything
on Earth is setup to provoke him. Earth’s nature causes him a whirl of torment and pleasure,
and mankind causes him jealousy as God created them to “spite us more””. The possessive
nouns, “our” is also repeated in the lines “ Determined to advance into our room” and “ With
heavenly spoils, our spoils”, highlighting Satan’s jealousy of mankind who is taking his
rightful place next to God. Of course, whilst man lives in the luxuries of Eden, Satan is
doomed to forever hide in the night, constantly on the move, evoking a sense of sympathy
from the reader. Satan chooses to bring mankind down with him in the spite of God due to
his own jealousy towards his creations. Milton’s portrayal of Satan somewhat justifies his
actions as the readers feel understanding for Satan’s character.
Satan recognises his own fall in power which makes him bitter as he chooses to enter the
snake in order to carry out his plans of destroying God’s latest creation “ O foul descent!
That I who erst contended/ with gods to sit the highest, am now constrained/ into a beast,
and mixed with bestial slime,”. The exclamation “O foul descent!” shows him reflecting on his
pitiful state, “descending” down the chain of being from an archangel in heaven to a
symbolically lowly snake on the ground, mixed with “bestial slime” which suggests his
feelings of self-disgust. His diminished glory reveals his inward grief that he shows, evoking
our pity. Satan even recognises that “Revenge, at first though sweet”, it will “recoil” on itself
and turn the opposite “bitter”. Following the line, Milton begins the next line with “Let it”,
rather than an uncontrollable urge?
Satan is a complex character in Paradise Lost. Initially presented like an epic hero travelling
through the world to seek his next vessel, he gains sympathy from the reader as his
speeches are revealing and personal. Through his thoughts, we are able to grasp his
reasons for committing evil that suggests that Satan’s evil derives from his own choice and
free will rather than an uncontrollable urge.
Satan is able to recognise the goodness in God’s creations despite hating him. He is able to
see the beauty of Earth with its natural “hill and valley, rivers, woods and plains”, suggesting
that he does have goodness inside of him whilst admiring God’s work. However he states
that “the more I see/ Pleasures about me, so much more I feel/ Torment within me”. Milton
repeats the personal pronouns, “I” and “me”, embedding them into the syntax of the
sentence with the oxymoronic “pleasures” and “torment”, suggesting Satan’s circling and
entrapment of emotions and confliction when he sees such greatness in God’s creation.
“Pleasure” and “Torment” are also placed at the beginning of each line, highlighting the two
contradictions that he feels. The fact that he is able to recognise goodness shows that he is
capable of being good too, despite his conflicted feelings. He is not presented as just pure
evil, but that he sides with evil due to his bitter feelings due to his expulsion from Heaven.
This confliction of good and evil greatly contrasts the early Christian depictions of Satan,
who was presented as a pure evil force in order to vindicate mankind’s fall. Satan’s fall
parallels with mankind’s in the way that Milton presents how one can easily fall due to free
will.
Satan’s reasoning for choosing evil can be seen as a product of his own jealousy and spite.
Because of his distorted view on God and his creations, in Satan’s perspective, everything
on Earth is setup to provoke him. Earth’s nature causes him a whirl of torment and pleasure,
and mankind causes him jealousy as God created them to “spite us more””. The possessive
nouns, “our” is also repeated in the lines “ Determined to advance into our room” and “ With
heavenly spoils, our spoils”, highlighting Satan’s jealousy of mankind who is taking his
rightful place next to God. Of course, whilst man lives in the luxuries of Eden, Satan is
doomed to forever hide in the night, constantly on the move, evoking a sense of sympathy
from the reader. Satan chooses to bring mankind down with him in the spite of God due to
his own jealousy towards his creations. Milton’s portrayal of Satan somewhat justifies his
actions as the readers feel understanding for Satan’s character.
Satan recognises his own fall in power which makes him bitter as he chooses to enter the
snake in order to carry out his plans of destroying God’s latest creation “ O foul descent!
That I who erst contended/ with gods to sit the highest, am now constrained/ into a beast,
and mixed with bestial slime,”. The exclamation “O foul descent!” shows him reflecting on his
pitiful state, “descending” down the chain of being from an archangel in heaven to a
symbolically lowly snake on the ground, mixed with “bestial slime” which suggests his
feelings of self-disgust. His diminished glory reveals his inward grief that he shows, evoking
our pity. Satan even recognises that “Revenge, at first though sweet”, it will “recoil” on itself
and turn the opposite “bitter”. Following the line, Milton begins the next line with “Let it”,
