Satan, a real devil?
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Satan, appearing in Paradise Lost, the deceiver who seduce Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge and consequently make them suffer from the punishment of God, seems to exert a peculiar fascination on us. The conventional picture of Satan is a deceiver who brings evil and temptation thus leads humanity astray. However, is Satan a devil in its true sense or is there any more profound meaning behind him?
In this short essay, firstly, I’d like to take a brief look at John Milton, the author of Paradise Lost. Next, I will focus on Satan and illustrate my opinions on this figure and give as much as evidence to demonstrate my opinion. Finally, I try to draw a conclusion and find out the answer of the question appearing at the beginning.
First, it is obviously important to gain a general view of John Milton. Born in a Puritan family, Milton was a devout Christian whose inclination was towards the Puritans during the religious debates of his day. However, he was opposed to church government by bishops and did political pamphlets writing on the side of revolution which advocates the abolition of episcopacy.
Milton’s purpose for writing Paradise Lost , as he puts it very clearly at the beginning of the poem, is to “assert eternal Providence and justify the ways of God to men’. The story of Paradise Lost, based on Genesis of the Old Testament, which illustrates the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden by God, fulfill Milton’s intention to show God’s eternal foresight in conflict with human free will.
Secondly, I’d like to talk something about Satan appearing in the Paradise Lost. Satan was originated as Lucifer, the highest angle in heaven, and his rebellion against God and his defeat and fall into Hell is based upon the medieval tradition of the Christian church. Satan, whose voice goes contrary to the Christian...