Although I have been reading and analyzing Paradise Lost during the past two weeks, it is still difficult for me to draw the whole picture to approach the fundamental idea behind this book. This is the same as letting a blind person to describe an elephant after allowing him to touch the elephant for only one minute. Instead of drawing the whole picture, this paper aims to investigate and explore Paradise Lost from a specific perspective, the revolutionary perspective.
Although we only have a very shallow understanding of Paradise Lost, it is clear for us to observe that the image of Satan in this book is quite different from that of any other documentations we have been familiar with. For example, in the beginning of the epic, Milton describes Satan as a hero: Satan is powerful, strong, and desires freedom. In other words, Milton makes Satan into a great leader who fights for the absolute power and never gives up. By contrast, God seems to be less lovely in Paradise Lost. Therefore, readers like me might be curious about why Milton, as a Christian, describes Satan and God in an opposite way a typical Christian would do. That is, Milton tries to improve the image of Satan and diminishes the image of God inadvertently. In general, …show more content…
Just like a revolutionary who wants to build a new monarchic system, Satan in Paradise Lost is a powerful hero who wants to challenge the absolute power. Both Satan and revolutionaries do not fear the high power and never give up their goals. In particular, similar to other revolutionaries who lost their battles to the monarch, Satan lost his battle in the Heaven. Like the king who won the battle would punish those revolutionaries, God tries to punish Stan in Paradise Lost. As we discussed before, Milton aims to depict different figures of God and Satan by supporting Satan’s revolution. Thus, Milton
Although we only have a very shallow understanding of Paradise Lost, it is clear for us to observe that the image of Satan in this book is quite different from that of any other documentations we have been familiar with. For example, in the beginning of the epic, Milton describes Satan as a hero: Satan is powerful, strong, and desires freedom. In other words, Milton makes Satan into a great leader who fights for the absolute power and never gives up. By contrast, God seems to be less lovely in Paradise Lost. Therefore, readers like me might be curious about why Milton, as a Christian, describes Satan and God in an opposite way a typical Christian would do. That is, Milton tries to improve the image of Satan and diminishes the image of God inadvertently. In general, …show more content…
Just like a revolutionary who wants to build a new monarchic system, Satan in Paradise Lost is a powerful hero who wants to challenge the absolute power. Both Satan and revolutionaries do not fear the high power and never give up their goals. In particular, similar to other revolutionaries who lost their battles to the monarch, Satan lost his battle in the Heaven. Like the king who won the battle would punish those revolutionaries, God tries to punish Stan in Paradise Lost. As we discussed before, Milton aims to depict different figures of God and Satan by supporting Satan’s revolution. Thus, Milton