Satan as Hero or Villain in Milton's Paradise Lost
This paper examines the character of Satan in John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost, exploring the longstanding critical debate over whether Satan should be read as a hero, an antihero, or a villain. Drawing on scholars such as Steadman, Calloway, Kaiter, Sandiuc, and Yang, the paper considers Satan's heroic attributes—his defiance, fortitude, leadership, and self-definition—alongside his moral corruption, selfishness, and ultimate failure. The analysis traces how Satan's image shifts across the poem's books, weighs pro-Satanist and anti-Satanist arguments, and evaluates comparisons between Satan and classical tragic heroes. The paper concludes that while Satan commands sympathy and admiration, Adam and Eve represent the poem's true moral heroes.
- Introduction: Milton's Satan introduced as literary debate subject
- Satan as a Self-Constructed Hero: Satan's heroic image as conscious self-creation
- The Corrupted Hero and Epic Tradition: Epic similes and Satan's distorted heroic traits
- The Heroic Debate: Pro-Satanists vs. Anti-Satanists: Competing critical views on Satan's heroic status
- Satan as Classical Hero or Classical Villain: Blessington and Calloway on classical heroism
- Conclusion: Adam and Eve as true moral heroes
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What makes this paper effective
- Balances multiple critical perspectives — pro-Satanist and anti-Satanist — without dismissing either side, giving the argument genuine analytical tension.
- Uses well-chosen textual evidence and scholarly quotations (Blake, Shelley, Hazlitt, Blessington, Calloway) to ground claims about Satan's heroic or villainous status in the critical tradition.
- Traces Satan's character arc across the poem's books, showing how his image degrades from Book I to the poem's end, which strengthens the "corrupted hero" argument.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative critical synthesis: rather than simply summarizing Milton's poem, it positions competing scholarly readings against one another and evaluates them. By invoking both pro-Satanist critics (Blake, Shelley, Hazlitt) and skeptics (Steadman, Blessington, Calloway), the writer shows how literary interpretation is shaped by the framework one brings to a text — a valuable technique in literary analysis essays.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief introduction situating Milton in literary history and framing the central question. A single extended discussion section (here reorganized into thematic subsections) moves from Satan's self-fashioned heroism, through his epic-simile portrayal, to the hero/antihero/tragic-hero debate and the classical hero argument. The conclusion resolves the tension by identifying Adam and Eve as the poem's true moral heroes while acknowledging Satan's enduring literary fascination.
Introduction
John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost placed this remarkable seventeenth-century English poet alongside Shakespeare, Homer, Virgil, and Dante in the canon of world literature. A key character in the poem, Satan, fails in his revolt against Heaven's authority, an event that ends in his being cast into the pits of Hell and in mankind's subsequent fall. Satan's numerous compelling traits make him a fascinating character in the eyes of readers and literary critics alike. William Blake, P. B. Shelley, William Hazlitt, and other pro-Satanists support him and consider him a grand hero, underscoring his defiance, pride, and audacity. Shelley regarded Satan as quite different from evil's popular personification (Yang 31). This paper examines the Miltonic Satan's attributes and how far they correspond to the characteristics of a genuine hero.
Satan as a Self-Constructed Hero
Milton's Satan is a real, rather than superficial, hero figure. The image the poet creates is, to some extent, Satan's own creation — an element reflecting a hero's enthusiasm for self-definition. Being a product of fallen intelligence, the image vacillates between unconscious and conscious fantasy. At least partially, Satan's image as hero may be regarded as conscious pretense. Just as the disguises he later adopts — a cherub, a toad, a serpent, and a cormorant — this illusion is also deliberately promoted by the originator of deceit. Satan himself is partially aware of his own deception. Through certain conditions customary to literary theory and epic poetry, awarding Satan heroic distinction appears entirely acceptable (Steadman 254–255).
The psychology and nature of Milton's Satan are deeply human. Given his situation, one can understand his pride, despondency, and jealousy. The reader's opinion of Satan changes appreciably from the first to the last book. As Satan continues disobeying the Almighty and the hierarchy He has defined, Satan vows to corrupt humanity. Book I portrays him as an imposing and powerful figure possessing great leadership and political abilities, but by the poem's end he slithers, as a serpent, back into the pits of Hell (Yang 32–33).
The Corrupted Hero and Epic Tradition
The most important feature of the Miltonic Satan is his "corrupted hero" image, which distorts true heroism. Several ostensibly heroic traits of the devil — prudence, disdain for danger, and fortitude of body and mind — are, in reality, morally neutral. They have been employed in both maleficent and beneficent deeds (Steadman 255).
A crucial factor in the poet's development of Satan's heroic image is his use of epic similes and elaborate comparisons depicting Satan's power and greatness. For instance, Milton compares his Satan, lying on a burning lake, to the legendary Greek Titans who battled against the gods. Elsewhere, Satan is compared to a great whale or Leviathan, to which sailors anchor their ships by mistake, misconstruing it for a piece of land. At the opening of Paradise Lost, Milton's fallen angel is depicted with a great and heroic body, possessing virtues akin to those of Odysseus and Achilles. He is brave, fearless, refuses to yield, and can drive his followers to pursue him into violence and mighty adventures (Yang 34).
Inspired by Blake and Dryden's reading of the Miltonic Satan's image, a majority of subsequent researchers believe the poem aims at publicizing Satan's rebellious spirit. The poet, reportedly, advocated for Satan, expressing the seventeenth-century revolutionary spirit (Yang 34). Milton makes a striking connection, using the term "Mount," between his own poetic activity and Satan's aspiration. St. Hilaire connects Satan's creation of a mount to Milton's desire "to soar / Above the Aeonian Mount" (Forsyth 115). However, the devil soon understands it is impossible to defeat God. Through his petty malice, he strives to disrupt the glorious new world made for humanity. Although he succeeds in this, that is the full extent of the damage he can inflict (Bicak 115).
Conclusion
Some readers view Satan as the story's protagonist, as he strives to overcome his personal flaws and doubts and to corrupt mankind. But his goal is malevolent, and Eve and Adam are the tale's moral heroes, commencing mankind's process of salvation. Satan is in no way to be admired, and celebrating or emulating him as a hero is misguided (Yang 34). Therefore, despite Milton's endeavor to depict Satan as evil incarnate, he continues to be an interesting figure who commands readers' sympathy and admiration. In the words of William Hazlitt, Satan is the most heroic character in all of poetry (Kaiter & Sandiuc 453).
References
Bicak, Ivana. "Transmutations of Satan and Caesar: The Grotesque Mode in Milton's Paradise Lost and Lucan's Pharsalia." Milton Quarterly, vol. 49, no. 2, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2015, pp. 112–125.
Calloway, Katherine. "Beyond Parody: Satan as Aeneas in Paradise Lost." Milton Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 2, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2005, pp. 82–92.
Forsyth, Neil. "Satan's Poetry: Fallenness and Poetic Tradition in Paradise Lost." Milton Quarterly. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2013, pp. 113–117.
Kaiter, Edith, and Corina Sandiuc. "Milton's Satan: Hero or Anti-hero?" International Conference of Scientific Paper AFASES, 2011, pp. 452–457.
Steadman, John M. "The Idea of Satan as the Hero of Paradise Lost." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 120, no. 4, Symposium on John Milton, Aug. 1976, pp. 253–294.
Yang, Shenghua. "Body Narrative of the Image of Satan in Paradise Lost." Advances in Literary Study, vol. 3, 2015, pp. 31–35.
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