Paradise Lost Term Paper

Satan and Paradise Lost

In Paradise Lost by John Milton, Satan represents the royalist, Catholic and aristocratic enemies of the Puritans during the civil wars and religious wars of the 17th Century and reflects the culture and events of the era such as the Renaissance, Reformation and Scientific Revolution. Milton was a Puritan who had supported Oliver Cromwell in the English Civil War and the overthrow of the king, aristocracy and Church of England. He was disappointed by the outcome of this revolution, and especially with the Restoration of the monarchy and the old order in 1660, which banned and censored many of his writings for being too radical. Not only is it a specifically Christian story of original sin, the fall from grace and hope for redemption, it should be considered as a revolutionary tract from the Puritan-Protestant side during the civil wars and religious wars of the 17th Century. Satan is shown as vain, arrogant and power-hungry, and even though he superficially attractive and clever his soul is completely evil.

Paradise Lost is an explicitly Christian poem that tells the story of the sin and redemption of mankind, and also reflects the author's disappointment with the lost cause of the Puritan Revolution in England. Satan represents the king, the bishops and the old aristocracy, at least symbolically, as they are cast out of heaven by God, and from the Puritan viewpoint, their enemies during the civil war certainly were satanic.By the time he wrote this story, they were back in power again as well, severely persecuting Milton and all those who had opposed them over the past thirty years. He was continually at war with God and the angels and saints, including the Puritan saints, who rejected and opposed him. Angels warn him that the "the Golden Scepter which thou didst reject is now an iron rod to bruise and break thy disobedience," which is a veiled reference to Cromwell's army of 'Ironsides" (Milton 1674). Satan in Paradise Lost is proud, arrogant and beautiful, and always boats of his magnificent qualities. Because of his aristocratic vanity and pride, he believes that he is entitled to all the power on heaven and earth, taking the place of God -- just as corrupt and evil monarchs at the time all claimed to rule by divine right. He was expelled from heaven because he had decided "to set himself in glory above his peers, he trusted to have equaled the most High" (Minton 1674). Yet like the Stuart monarchs he was overthrown and exiled to hell, but he….....