By far, what has interested most in all of "Paradise Lost" has been Milton's interpretation of Satan as a sympathetic character. Considering that the poem was written in the time that it was, it seems like it would have been a controversial outlook, because up until then I can only assume that the general public was more used to traditional illustrations of him through other pieces of either epic poetry or biblical stories passed down through sermon. The most obvious one that comes to mind is the equally famous “Divine Comedy”
Written 112 years prior, Dante’s epic piece is considered by many to be the quintessential illustration of Hell’s anatomy (as well as Purgatory and Heaven). In the last circle of his intricate geography of it, the character of Satan is portrayed more as an abstract caricature than an actual character.
In Dante’s poem, Satan is a mindless, bestial-like creature locked in an icy lake. He can’t even speak with any of his three mouths, only because he’s too busy dumbly chewing on the three most notorious of traitors. Even then, it’s also implied that he’s too stupid to even speak a word.
Milton’s portrayal of Satan is a complete 180 from this, and I can’t help but wonder how a general public might have reacted to being ‘tricked’ into having, quite literally, sympathy for the devil himself. Up until then, they had been given these similar ‘embodiment of all evil’ sorts of interpretations, especially from Dante’s work so many years prior.
I actually read Dante's Divine Comedy in another class right before we started reading Paradise Lost in this class, and it was hard to make the transition between classes because the views of hell were just so different. Dante definitely portrays Satan in a much different light than Milton does; however, I think Milton did a better job portraying the Biblical Satan. In the New Testament it describes Satan as a "thief" whose "purpose is to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10, New Living Translation). In this way, Satan is seen as more cunning and sneaky and smart as Milton describes him as opposed to Dante's dumb and mute version.
ReplyDeleteDante does a better job of making Hell seem like a worse place to wind up, but Milton does a better job of making Satan someone to fear.
ReplyDeleteDante's Satan is a monstrous sight, but he is not a monster. He's a wall, nomming away at Judas and Company. (Judas and Company would be a great name for a Metal Band)
Milton's Satan is a cunning, manipulative -bastard- who we see pick himself up after having lost a battle with God himself and says "If I can't win yet, I'm gonna SPOIL HIS FUN."