So if you meet me, Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I’ll lay your soul to waste…” – “Sympathy For The Devil”, Rolling Stones
The Satan of Milton’s Paradise Lost is one that before it was written, had not been discussed or seen often, as a character of not only dimension but of human quality and emotion. Milton’s depiction of Satan is not just as a being that is little more than “all evil”, but now almost heroic in nature and that main character of the story.
Milton’s Paradise Lost follows Satan post-fall from Heaven and then to the temptation of Adam and Eve, which causes them to be forced out of Eden, hence the name. Due to the fact that the story focuses on Satan and revolves around them as the central character, it becomes difficult for the reader not to sympathize with them. It presents a new, unique perspective of a time-old character; one that shows us that Satan may not be so unlike us. In fact, Satan presents multiple human qualities: human emotion, human-esque form, human downfalls.
You’re A Charming Devil, You…
Satan is shown to not just be an evil being who wishes for the demise and pain of everyone and everything, but rather a being of depth. Multiple times Satan is depicted as rather charismatic and charming, even giving speeches to their many followers (Milton Book 1, lines 81-83). Even more than this, Satan is depicted as having real emotions beyond just basic anger or greed, but rather more complex emotions such as “envy”, and the desire for glory (Book 1, line 35, 38-39). In this same manner, by giving Satan emotion, even those that are undesirable, it makes them more human and relatable. For in the same way that Satan is at fault, we too share these same pitfalls, being envious, angry, and the like.
Tempting Beauty
Likewise, Satan is also seen as a rather beautiful figure, a depiction that differs from many previous and more well-known ones. Instead, we see Satan as beautiful and “…not yet lost…[its] original brightness” (Book 1, lines 591-592). It is no secret that we often hold more sympathy for things that are more attractive to us, but it also makes you wonder: how could a beautiful thing be so evil? It makes the reader stop and recall that Satan was, in fact, also made by God, by “perfect hands”, and that Satan was not made to be evil. Satan is often described as bright, giving way to their angelic origins, grabbing once again at our sympathy, because “his brightness was something that was not mistakenly given to him” (Cammareri 18).
Moral of the Story
Although Satan was depicted as human in nature and therefore rather palatable as compared to before, the message of doing so still remained the same: to warn readers to stay away from temptation and not to be fooled. It is easy to see Satan as a poor unfortunate soul placed in an unfortunate situation, as Milton describes, but this is just a warning, for sympathy can easily be taken advantage of. Satan, depicted as a rebel leader, could very easily gain the trust of the reader, seeing an unfortunate situation and giving up sympathy to the oppressed, however, it “sets a trap for humanity to fall into” (Hartman 134).
Citations:
Cammareri, Nicole, et al. The Evolution of Milton’s Satan through “Paradise Lost” and “Paradise Regained” and Milton’s Establishment of the Hero. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2011, http://search.proquest.com/docview/878545449/.
Hartman, Michael, and Nunnally, Thomas. Laughing at the Devil: Satan as a Humorous Figure in Middle English Literature. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1994, http://search.proquest.com/docview/304115436/.