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"With the Prince of Hell Milton reverses the functions and correspndingly the characteristicts, stressing thoseappropriate to an epic antagonist and underplaying though incorporating those of an example of evil." (Kaston 58) Kaston is saying in the poem Milton totally reverses the beliefs which have always been associated with Satan. Everyone has always portrayed Satan as evil and as the villain of everything. But Milton has used him as a hero who was doing something in which everyone thought was evil. Satan's actual attempt to defeat god was evil but all the qualities in which Satan showed us were not evil. All the leadership qualities and acts are showing us that he is in fact a hero. Another scholar which writes that Satan was in fact a hero was A.J.A Waldorle.
He wrote: Dryden thought the Devil was Milton's hero, and we must agree that he was, if we are thinking in terms of if he was a saint who foils the knight and drives him out of his stronghold. (Waldocle 1) Warldorle is saying that Satan is a hero in terms of someone who was a great knight and was able to become a great leader. "According to Tertivillain, the Devil was good until the day when he was …show more content…
Now that is some great company which tells us Satan belongs as the hero. Even though there is all this evidence of Satan being a hero there are still many people who feel that Satan was in fact the villain of Paradise Lost. Satan is said to be the villain mainly because he goes against God and tries to overthrow the most powerful being in the world. Satan's own determination allows him to feel that he is greater than
God and able to take over allows him to become the villain in people's minds and this gives him his bad reputation forever.
Maximilian Rudin, a scholar, writes, "The downfall of the Devil is, according to the
Church authority, attributed to self conceit." (Rudwin 6) This can not be considered something that would go against the idea of Satan as a hero because pride is a trait of every hero so it can not be used against Satan. Father Louis Coulange is convinced that that Satan is a villain.
"The Devil of the Christian Church is an evil being" (Coulange A) Although this is true, it can not be considered in the case of Paradise Lost because this is a conventional view of Satan and does not take into consideration all of Satan's actions in the poem.
He wrote: Dryden thought the Devil was Milton's hero, and we must agree that he was, if we are thinking in terms of if he was a saint who foils the knight and drives him out of his stronghold. (Waldocle 1) Warldorle is saying that Satan is a hero in terms of someone who was a great knight and was able to become a great leader. "According to Tertivillain, the Devil was good until the day when he was …show more content…
Now that is some great company which tells us Satan belongs as the hero. Even though there is all this evidence of Satan being a hero there are still many people who feel that Satan was in fact the villain of Paradise Lost. Satan is said to be the villain mainly because he goes against God and tries to overthrow the most powerful being in the world. Satan's own determination allows him to feel that he is greater than
God and able to take over allows him to become the villain in people's minds and this gives him his bad reputation forever.
Maximilian Rudin, a scholar, writes, "The downfall of the Devil is, according to the
Church authority, attributed to self conceit." (Rudwin 6) This can not be considered something that would go against the idea of Satan as a hero because pride is a trait of every hero so it can not be used against Satan. Father Louis Coulange is convinced that that Satan is a villain.
"The Devil of the Christian Church is an evil being" (Coulange A) Although this is true, it can not be considered in the case of Paradise Lost because this is a conventional view of Satan and does not take into consideration all of Satan's actions in the poem.