Is Satan a Hero in John Milton\'s \"Paradise Lost\"?

Paradise Lost

The poem by John Milton is written in the style of literary epics; it starts not the beginning but in the middle of the story. Still, right away the reader knows that there is a war between good and evil, between Satan and Heaven (or God Himself), and that Satan was an Angel before he fell into disfavor with God. Since Satan had been an angel, in the reader's mind something must have happened to cause Satan to fall from grace. There are two basic stories in this long, complicated and esoteric poem -- one involved Satan and why he was banished from Heaven, and the other narrative is about Adam and Eve. In fact, in the poem Satan is the one who temps Eve to eat fruit from the tree that God asked her not to eat. Readers know that Satan is clever, tricky, and while disguised as a snake, Satan has certain rhetorical powers that allow him to get what he wants, and this is part of Milton's genius, to create an evil character who actually has some seemingly positive human talents and abilities.

How does John Milton go about creating and characterizing Satan in Paradise Lost?

Milton opens Book 1 by describing what he intends to make the centerpiece of his poem, and that is there has been disobedience in Heaven and hence, Satan has lost Paradise. Satan has lost Paradise because the Serpent -- with Satan inside the Serpent -- rebelled against God, and Satan left Heaven (was actually pushed out of Heaven).

Satan has raised what Milton describes as an "impious war in Heav'n" (1-43), which can be seen as a kind of civil war, a war which Satan lost and hence was sent from Heaven. But he didn't leave Heaven alone; he brought with him a whole legion of angels, and they landed in a burning lake, soon to survive that situation and to wreak havoc wherever he can.

Once out of Heaven, God "Left him at large to his own dark designs, That with reiterated crimes he might Heap on himself damnation, while he sought Evil to others…" (211-216).

But while in Heaven Satan, called Lucifer, was both a beautiful Angel but also a tragic figure. You don't try to out-gun God in Heaven, which is what Satan apparently did. Milton makes him a kind of anti-hero but one who has credibility nonetheless. Not enough credibility to be the protagonist -- he is more the antagonist than protagonist -- and yet Milton has given Satan what can be called charisma so that his character is powerful and to be respected in a dark way.

Satan is troubled, and while struggling to have confidence in himself and to be sure of what he is doing, he does come to the realization that his goal is to bring humankind down to his level of evil. In time he believes in his own falsehoods as well. Is he likeable? Yes in many ways Milton has created a character that the reader sometimes sympathizes with. In Book 3, Milton's depiction of God does not compare to his depiction of Satan. In fact God comes across as not very interesting juxtaposed with Satan, which is why some scholars contend that Satan is the more compelling character in this long poem.

Is Satan the hero of the story?

If a reader comes to the conclusion that Satan is the hero, then Satan is both an anti-hero and a hero in a bizarre way. It is almost as though Milton is seducing the reader into being kind to Satan's character. Satan even sheds a tear, and that incident brings the reader another angle of Satan. Satan is like a smooth-talking politician who can persuade almost anyone of his sincerity even though he is lying through his teeth. It can be said though that while a reader thinks of a hero as a good person that goes out of the way to do some heroic dead, that same hero may have flaws that he must overcome. Overcoming those flaws contributes to the individual being seen as a hero.

Hence, the way Milton has presented Satan, Satan could be seen as a heroic figure because in fact Satan puts up with and conquers a huge amount of pain and Satan suffers too. But Satan fights off that suffering and pain, and continues to march to his own drummer, so notwithstanding that he is an evil power, he does have characteristics of heroism. Heroes don't normally seek revenge, and this is where Satan's supposed heroism departs from the image of the more typical hero. On the other hand a hero battles against long odds and is willing to risk everything to complete a project or get to a place hitherto forbidden or impossible, and this is true with Satan in Paradise Lost.

A major flaw in Satan, notwithstanding his charms and powers, is that he cannot recognize his own limitations; in that sense Satan lacks intuitive knowledge about his own flaws. For example, he thinks he can win a war against God, but of course he never will win that war, so that part of his character is flawed in a major way -- albeit that doesn't prevent the reader from seeing some heroic components in Satan. In fact God turns Satan into an enormous serpent in Book X, by reaching down into Hell; hence, Satan can become a metaphor for the Christian sinner, who has to come to terms with God on God's terms.

In the film "Devil's Advocate," actor Al Pacino plays a character named John Milton, who is a clever lawyer and has charisma like Satan. Pacino's character can con anyone into believing lies and exaggerated stories; like Satan Pacino's character, Satan is fascinated with himself and egotistical well beyond the norm for egotists. Pacino's character is a womanizer, who says he is "…the hand up Mona Lisa's skirt" which sets him apart from Satan because Satan is presented as sexually neutral or at worst impotent. In fact Satan was actually upset at the sight of Adam and Eve making love.