John Milton's Satan

John Milton’s Paradise Lost is one of the most popular examples of epic poetry. Although Milton goes out of some usual aspects of epic poems, like changing the structure by using blank verse, he gives a fascinating sample. In this poem, Milton tells an extended story of the Biblical verses about Satan, Adam, and Eve and how they were dismissed from Heaven. This work, which consists of 10 books, is a unique work of art because it gives a different portrayal of Satan, who is the representative of pure evil. While a random person would define Satan as a completely bad creature whose aim is to bring darkness all over humanity, Milton creates a more human-like Satan with whom one can even sympathize. When this is taken into consideration, a discussion about whether Satan is the anti-hero of Paradise Lost or not arises. I defend that John Milton’s Satan is not an anti-hero, but rather he is a villain protagonist.

Milton’s work opens “in media's res” where Satan and his companions lost the war against God and were sent to Hell. With appropriately eloquent language, Milton describes what is to be told in the poem by asking the “heavenly Muse” to sing the disobedience of humanity as a tradition, and, as it is stated in the beginning, the purpose of this epic is to “justify the ways of God to men” (Milton, line 26). To achieve this, Milton creates a protagonist and antagonist relationship between God and Satan. He leaves the interpretation of the events to the reader to decide and take sides. While letting the reader question events, he also lets them question characters by giving Satan's point of view in the story. His motives, emotions, and inner world, which are told by the omniscient narrator, allow us to think about whether Satan is the villain or not. 

Some people interpret the way Satan is described as Milton’s way to create an anti-hero. To support this claim, they put his characteristics in the poem forward. He is defined as a creature who aims for equality and acts wrongly to achieve this. On the other hand, Satan's motives are not selfless. He does not try to bring equality to everyone, nor does he want to achieve something he thinks is good for the well-being of everyone. He wants a higher place for himself and manipulates others for it. He not only demands to be equal to God but also desires “to set himself in glory above his peers” (line 39). Some may suggest these are some traits anti-heroes may have. However, even though an anti-hero is not the most selfless type of character, they do not act as selfishly and arrogantly as Milton's Satan. Anti-heroes are also defined by their insecurities. Milton's Satan is confident and thinks he is deserving of being God's equal. His level of arrogance is mostly attributed to the villains. Moreover, anti-heroes are the ones that choose the wrong paths to achieve good both for themselves and others, but villains are the ones who fight for themselves and use others by making them believe they are fighting for everyone. Thus, it is safe to state that Satan in Paradise Lost is more like a villain whose perspective is revealed to the reader rather than an anti-hero. What makes him as relatable and enjoyable as an anti-hero is the fact that he is humanized by Milton, unlike his version in the Bible.

Milton presented a significant example of epic poetry and created a controversial character of Satan which makes one think a lot while categorizing him as an anti-hero or a villain. Despite his characteristics that can be attributed to the anti-hero type, in my opinion, he leans more towards a villain because of his negative aims and ways, which are self-aggrandizement, blaming others for his own mistakes, desiring revenge, and manipulating his companions on the way to his goal. His selfish and confident character who fights against the Creator and seeks revenge after failure depicts that Milton's Satan is a villain set as the protagonist in Paradise Lost.