Character Sketch of Satan - Milton

 

Satan is the most glaring personality in the “Paradise Lost” penned by a most prominent and eminent poet of the Renaissance period. After a thorough perusal of Milton’s great epic, the character that looms large before our eyes and is imprinted on the blank slate of mind and memory is that of satan. John Wain has remarked in favour of satan’s personality;

 

“Satan, when we first see him, seems unforgettable, beautiful and heroic. Satan’s portrait is so flawless and powerful that it strikes one as almost miraculous.”

 

Satan is simultaneously the most exalted and the most deprived figure in the ‘Paradise Lost’. That is why; his character has been a subject of controversy among the critics. Satan’s main aim is to usurp the throne of the universe and he has the support of myriads of angels whom he has lured after him in order to defy the Omnipotent. Satan is an outcast from Heaven. Hell trembles beneath his feet. Sins are at his heels and human beings are his easy prey. Satan is stubborn and hot-headed. Therefore, he declares emphatically;

 

“……..... What though the field be lost?

All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,

And study of revenge, immortal hate,

And courage never to submit or yield:

And what is else not to be overcome?”

 

To him, the pursuit of evil is the logical necessity in every action. He sternly remarks;

 

“Fall'n Cherube, to be weak is miserable

Doing or Suffering: but of this be sure,

To do ought good never will be our task,

But ever to do ill our sole delight,

As being the contrary to his high will

Whom we resist …………………….. .”

 

Satan’s speeches in the council, his soliloquies, his addresses to Eve, his share in the war in heaven and his role in the fall of man show that he was possessor of manifold qualities. In the very first speech, he declares himself as the master of situation;

 

“………………… Farewel happy Fields

Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrours, hail

Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell

Receive thy new Possessor: One who brings

A mind not to be chang'd by Place or Time.

The mind is its own place, and in it self

Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.

Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n.”

 

Satan’s sin is the greatest and as such his punishment is also the greatest. However, the strength of his mind seems matchless which compelled Christopher Gilli to opine on the so-called grandeur of satan;

 

“Everyone knows that however, it is difficult to enjoy ‘Paradise Lost’ throughout, the 1^st two books are splendid because of the grandeur of satan.”

 

Satan embodies evil because he is the embodiment of disobedience to God. God allows him to work his evil designs in order to give further scope to divine goodness and to bring worse punishment on him. However, Amber Crombie sings the glory of the poem and the fallen satan in the words:

 

“It is surely the simple fact that ‘Paradise Lost’ exists for one figure and that is satan.”

 

To conclude, satan’s character remains dominant throughout the book. Critics have regarded him as the hero of the ‘Paradise Lost’. Without his character Milton’s poem would have been a mere theological thesis and not a real epic work of great value. But we have an unshakeable belief that Adam is the real hero from religious point of view.