Milton's Satan in Paradise Lost—Hero or Anti-Hero:

Milton's Satan in Paradise Lost—Hero or Anti-Hero:


One of the most enigmatic and elusive figures in English Literature is Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost. Milton has magnified arch-enemy of God and Man to heroic proportions. Though he is evil incarnate, he is shown to be the embodiment of obdurate pride and unconquerable will. Milton’s Satan is an unsurpassable leader albeit a defeated military figure, whom his legions would follow even unto the gates of hell. He is readily comparable to the heroes of classical epics—he is a variant of Achilles, who equates honor with own status and who has the ability to rally his troops by the magic of his eloquent speeches.

Milton’s Satan is such an emotionally complex character that we can never completely understand him. He is, by common consent, one of the greatest artistic creations ever portrayed in literature. There has been great controversy on the ambiguity of this character. Yet it is true that his character engages reader’s attention and excites his admiration too. Though the action of the poem turns round Man’s first disobedience, the character that gives epic qualities to the poem is that of Satan. In the words of Addison:“He is the most heroic subject ever chosen for a poem, and the execution is perfect as the design is lofty.”

In fact, the most appropriate observation about Milton’s Satan was put forward by William Blake: “The reason, Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels and God and at liberty when of Devils and Hell, is because he was a true poet and of the Devil’s party without knowing it.”

In fact, all the poetic powers of Milton are shown in delineation the arch-enemy of God and humanity. Milton has endowed him the tragic grandeur of classical heroes. Some of the classical heroic qualities of Milton’s Satan are his physical might, his injured pride; his indomitable will, his leadership, and his appeal to human nature.Hazlitt remarks:“Whatever the figure of Satan is introduced, whatever he walks or flies rising aloft incumbent on the dusky air, it is illustrated with the most appropriate image,”

Milton’s first description of Satan is intended to impress us with his super-human dimensions. He is of gigantic appearance as in the words of Milton, “In bulk as huge/As whom the fables name of monstrous size.” He is compared to the monstrous size of mythical Titans, or Briareos or Typhoon or that sea-beast Leviathan, “…which God of all his works/Created hugest that swim the ocean-stream.” Then, Satan’s shield is compared to the moon as seen by Galileo through his telescope and his spear is compared to the tallest tree on the hills of Norway.

One the towering aspect of Satan’s character is his “obdurate pride” and “study of revenge”. Self-exaltation is the motive of his conduct. He suffers from a sense of “injured merit”. He vaunts aloud his tragic hubris; overweening self-confidence and his superior foresight. Even when he sees destructive gloom all around him, his pride accompanies him:“Round he throws his baleful eyesThat witnessed huge affliction and dismayMixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate.”He reveals his intellectual pride in his address to Hell:“And thou most profound Hell,Receive thy new possessor, one who bringsA mind not be changed by place or time.”

S.T. Coleridge very aptly remarks:“The character of Satan is pride and sensual in indulgence, finding in self-sole of motive action…But around this character (Milton) has thrown a singularity of daring, a grandeur of sufferance and a ruined splendor.”

Another key aspect of Satan’s personality is his outstanding courage and indomitable will. He, though, maybe wrong-headed but has extraordinary courageous personality. Heaven is lost to him and his legions forever but he does not lose heart and inspires his comrades with new zeal:“What though the field be lost?All is not lost—the unconquerable willAnd study of revenge and immortal hate.”

Milton’s Satan is endowed with the unique qualities of a great leader. He has courage, resourcefulness and unyielding spirit. He knows how to command and inspire his followers in the times of distress. As a leader, Satan has great anxiety for his followers, feels sorry for their miserable condition, appreciates their loyalty and sheds tears of sympathy for them. He stirs his followers by bombastic and rhetorical language:“Peace is despaired/For who can think submission.”“Princes, Potentates/Warriors, the flower of Heaven, once yours now lost.”“Awake, Arise or be forever fallen.”

His dictum is, “Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven.” As a result of his fiery speeches, millions of rebel angels drew their swords and “Highly they raged/Against the Highest.”

Regardless of the fact that millions of rebel angels Satan has at his command, however, such faithfulness does not diminish his resentment over his defeat in Heaven, “For the thought/Both of lost happiness and lasting pain/Torments him.” He makes conscious attempts to preserve his calm demeanor for the sake of his followers. While he plots his revenge against God, Satan struggles from an inner turmoil that he hides from his legions. He cannot allow his feelings of regret to show to his followers because this kind of uncertainty would be interpreted as weakness. To him weakness is a crime:“Fallen Cherub, to be weak is miserable/Doing or suffering.”

Finally, Milton plays to human nature in his description of Satan and rebel angels. The angels are represented as rebels because of their strong allegiance to the dark prince. Both Satan and angels exhibit very human traits and succumb to the common temptations and sins. That is why audience often catches a glimpse of themselves in the portrayal of these ethereal figures.

From the above discussion, it becomes clear that the character of Satan is a blend of noble and ignoble, the exalted and the mean, the high or the low; and therefore it becomes extremely difficult to declare him a hero or a villain.

The 19th century Romantics considered Satan as the chief figure of Paradise Lost as Romanticism envisages that a hero should have a towering personality and capable of exercising his influence over others. He should be eloquent speaker and advocate of freedom. Shelley, for example, considered, “Milton’s Devil as a moral being far superior to his God.”

According to classical school of thought, a hero should be a noble person. He should neither be perfectly virtuous nor consummate villain. Hence we cannot treat Satan as the hero of Paradise Lost as he is essentially a wicked character and a personification of evil. He may have some heroic qualities but he cannot be a hero but an anti-hero; for in the end he himself realizes his impotence. As the poem proceeds, the towering figure of Satan degenerates; he loses his foothold and reclaims his common reputation—of deceitfulness.



We can Sum up above discussion in the words of C.S. Lewis: “From hero to general, from general to politician, from politician to secret-service agent and thence to a…toad, and finally to a snake—such is the progress of Satan.”

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