Is Satan A Hero Or Villain In John Milton's Paradise Lost, Book I?

The era of gothic novels ushered in a time of revolt from science and a push away from scientific thought. Frankenstein, itself, offers one long ode to the fact that ambition and the thirst for knowledge can have devastating consequences for the person who craves them. The creature and Victor Frankenstein both serve as warning signs for Walton on his journey for scientific discovery.

As a result of straying from the church, Edwards tells the Puritans they belong in Hell. Edward’s uses the Puritans fear of Hell along with rhetorical devices to get the audience to rejoin the church. Hell becomes more realistic through the words of Edwards. He tells the Puritans, “Hell is gaping for them”, meaning Satan wants to be united with the sinners. Edwards elaborates on his claim and states if God were to spare the audience now, they would “immediately sink and plunge into a bottomless gulf” of Hell. This dramatic imagery shows the Puritans that God will no longer come to their rescue because the Puritans have chosen to serve Satan. Edwards tries to reach his audience by saying Hell is a “great furnace of wrath” where sinners belong. This description of Hell shows Edwards belief that sinners will pay for not serving God by facing God’s wrath in Hell. Each claim made by Jonathan Edwards motivates the audience to stop serving Satan in order to escape the “very misery to all eternity” that is Hell.

Satan is similar to the Monster in a way that he is also alone. Satan is also made in the appearance of God like Adam is. Though the Creature is not made in any image of his creator, he still states, “Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition, for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me” (Shelley 124). The Monster is able to relate to Lucifer’s relationship with his creator. They are both disturbed and angry for the way they end up becoming. This is the main cause that both seek retaliation on their

In chapter three of Aquinas for Armchair Theologians by Timothy Renick, Aquinas’s philosophy on evil in the world and the free will of humans is heavily discussed. Renick describes a very complex topic and transforms it into something the average person can read and understand. Aquinas answers the questions of whether evil exists, did God create evil, why does evil exist, and if evil exists, who or what removes it. He also answers the questions of whether humans have the free will to make decisions or has God predetermined every decision and its outcome according to his plan. While I found this article somewhat easy to follow, I can understand how some of Aquinas’s arguments can lead to debate or confusion on the nature of God, evil, and free will. Despite this, because of reason and what God is envisioned to be, I agree with conclusions that Aquinas has made.

called Lucifer and was the greatest of all angels l, rebelled against God over his jealousy of man. Turning evil and fighting the Almighty, he was destined to lose and thrown out of heaven, along with his army. In Dante’s Inferno, he resides in the deepest bowels of hell, where he tortures the three worst traitors in human history: Judas Iscariot, betrayer of Jesus of Nazareth, Cassius and Brutus, slayers Julius Caesar. In hell, contrapasso rules, and the appearances of the fallen angel Lucifer agrees with it.

The desires of humanity often reflect the temptations residing in the heart’s depths. Evil’s lure is a strong pull felt by all, regardless of the appearance put on through the conscious mind. In literature, temptation is explored thoroughly, especially in the short story, “Young Goodman Brown”. “The tale becomes in great part, thus, a record of temptation” (Pualits 578-579). The author of “Young Goodman Brown”, Nathaniel Hawthorne, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804. His family has a long standing history in Salem, as his relative John Hathorne was a judge in the Witch Trials. Soon after the trials a ‘w’ was added to the family’s last name to distance themselves from the horrors of the time (Nathaniel Hawthorne Biography). Set during

Dante meets people through his journey of the many circles in the Inferno that lead him down into the center of hell, where Satan is. Satan is seen as being monster-like with three heads, representing a mocking of the Trinity and blowing his wings around the cocytus river. The final thing seen here is the fact that Dante’s description of Satan is a bit disappointing compared to the other descriptions he has written about the inferno. Dante’s portrayal of Satan is paradoxically empty and monstrous; it captures Satan in his true form and speaks of who he truly is.

The classic novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley in 1818, displays the use of literary devices, foreshadowing, allusions and figurative language, which aid the reader in understanding the authors opinion on scientific exploration. These techniques are used to arouse anticipation within the reader, therefore engaging them throughout the text. Along with providing a greater understanding of the novel, by referring to other books, and using the novel to portray the authors own perspective on scientific exploration. All these devices are effectively used within the novel to provide a deeper understandings of Mary Shelley’s work.

In Dante’s Inferno, Dante Alighieri's depiction of Satan at the bottom of hell reveals the theme that in Hell the punishment is always befitting of the due to the fact that the lower you go, the farther that person is from god. The picture of Satan satisfies the reader because he shows that he is the opposite of god and that he is full of evil. Lucifer is the demon in the circles of hell which he has three faces, and bat like wings in which he creates the cold wind where the sinners suffer. “The face in the middle was red, the color of anger. The face on the right was white blended with yellow, the color of impotence. The face on the left was black, the color of ignorance,” (34). Lucifer is pictured as a terrifying demon to give a better

usually associated with important events like the climatic, anticipating moments in the novel or the appearance of the evil figure .84

The passage opens up with a sentence in latin  “Vexilla regis prodeunt inferni” to put in evidence  that Dante is near to meet the prince of demons, Satan.  In the beginning,as the first verse discloses, Dante saw nothing in the darkness, except for the silhouette of what he thinks is a huge windmill from which a cold air blows. The wind produced by Lucifer is a parody of the breath of the Holy Spirit, which proceeds from the Father and the Son, who is ardent of charity while this air freezes the lake in which the lost souls are trapped. The vision of the monster is prepared with a wise expectation, coming only after Dante described the traitors immersed in the Cocito area, the Giudecca. They are completely wrapped in ice, similar to transparent

Depictions of the ultimate force of evil have existed for thousands of years. In Christianity, the name Satan or Lucifer has been given to define this evil, depicting him as a half human and half goat. Lucifer is fabled to exist since the beginning of time. Due to Lucifer being the representation of the most ancient evil, he is presented in many different forms in dark literature. This is shown in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, a character, Arnold Friend, and his sidekick, Ellie, reference Lucifer in both imagery and secret code.

Although John Milton’s Paradise Lost remains to be a celebrated piece recounting the spiritual, moral, and cosmological origin of man’s existence, the imagery that Milton places within the novel remains heavily overlooked. The imagery, although initially difficult to recognize, embodies the plight and odyssey of Satan and the general essence of the novel, as the imagery unravels the consequences of temptation that the human soul faces in the descent from heaven into the secular realms. Though various forms of imagery exist within the piece, the contrast between light and dark imagery portrays this viewpoint accurately, but its interplay and intermingling with other imagery, specifically the contrasting imagery of height and depth as well as cold and warmth, remain to be strong points

In conclusion, Dante’s Inferno implicitly communicates to mankind through an allegorical presentation about an individual’s detour off a righteous path leading him into the depths of Hell. He gradually learns that God’s justice prevails, no one can escape eternal damnation unless they

To begin his mission, Milton devoted his first book of Paradise Lost to introduce Satan along with his falling angels in Hell attempting to plan a revenge on God. So, Satan is the central figure of book 1, a figure that Milton presents with plenty of epithets and with a magnificent energy and a personal pride. To what extent did Paradise Lost present Satan as a moral agent? Given the politics of the English revolution and restoration, how precisely should we interpret Satan’s language and policy in Hell? Did the spiritual poem reveal the 17th century religious beliefs or Milton’s ones? How is Milton’s God represented in book 1? Paradise Lost is a very dense epic poem. Some readers may not understand it and find it complex or sometimes contradictory in its representations and dimensions. In this essay I will try to find answers and some interpretations to its complexity through a focus on its literary aspects and both theological and political