Satan, being an adversary of God and of the entire
humanity, inevitably gets an antagonistic status in religious and moral texts. In John
Milton’s Paradise Lost, however, he is the hero or the
protagonist. Satan, also known as Lucifer, was once one of the most
beautiful and loved angels in God’s heaven. But his rebellion and revolt against God
makes him thrown out of heaven. He accepts eternal damnation because he is unwilling to
get subjugated by the authority.
Satan is a very rich,
complex and powerful character. While he is clearly evil, immoral and revengeful, he is
also a tragic figure. He has a tragic flaw, hubris or extreme
pride, which becomes the reason of his downfall. Satan is definitely a very courageous,
heroic character who fights against the tyranny of the creator who is much more powerful
than him. The readers sympathize with him because he goes beyond his limits and risks
everything to fight for a cause he passionately believes in and fails. He impresses us
with his powerful, vivid oration and leadership skills. Even after getting badly
defeated, he doesn’t lose hope and asks his fellow fallen angels to continue the war
against God. Satan’s character also has overtones of self-destructiveness for he is
conscious of his loss, but refuses to repent. He believes, it is “Better to reign in
Hell than serve in Heaven”. The true nature of his character in the poem, however, is
highly debatable.
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