Is Lucifer portrayed as the anti-hero of Milton's Paradise Lost because he secretly sympathized with Satan...

Question

...or because he wanted to draw the reader into sympathizing with a position of rebellion that he did not agree with, even though he understood it?

Answer 1

I wrote a paper on this subject in my senior seminar class for my English degree. I discovered that most critics either side with William Blake, who said that Satan was the hero of "Paradise Lost" because Milton was a poet and therefore one of "the devil's own" whether he recognized it or not, or they agree with C.S. Lewis, who denied that Satan was the hero because Milton was a Christian. My thesis was that Satan was the "hero" of Milton's poem, though not his worldview, because he was writing in a certain genre - the epic poem.

In "On Poetics," Aristotle wrote that anything that can be said about tragedy can be said about epic, and then he goes on to describe the necessary elements of tragedy and the tragic hero. Milton wrote an epic based on the Bible, meaning that he had to use characters that already existed. Satan is the only character who meets the criteria for the tragic hero.

According to Aristotle, the tragic hero could not be saved via a deus ex machina. Adam, therefore, could not be the hero, because Christ's salvation of man is a clear deus ex machina. The same applies to Eve, and in addition, Aristotle thought it unlikely that a woman could be heroic, and Milton surely doesn't portray her as virtuous at all. Jesus' resurrection also qualifies as a deus ex machina, so he couldn't be the hero.

This leaves Satan, who is driven by hamartia - Aristotle's fatal flaw, translated in the Bible as "sin." According to Aristotle, every tragic hero is driven by hamartia, which manifests itself as hubris, something of which Satan is no doubt guilty.

"Paradise Lost" is a great poem and a great story. Sadly, many conflate this fabulous story with Scripture itself. This has led to some sketchy theology (the pre-fall fall of Satan), bizarre angelology (Satan as angel is nowhere to be found in Scripture), and sexism (Eve is not weak in Genesis, and Adam is with her when they eat the fruit).

My paper is longer and with cited references. Let me know if you're interested.

Answer 2

Milton Lucifer

Answer 3

Milton is probably the most skillful writer in history. He used his craft to portray Satan in 2 lights. On the one hand, Satan is the skilled orator who will use God's own words to decieve mankind. However, Milton's Satan can be interpreted as an allegorical figure who presents a negative representation of the the Catholic Church and Imperialism.

Answer 4

I believe that the only regard in which Milton would have sympathized with Lucifer would be the concept of abandonment, as it is hinted at in writings about him that he was quite bitter about the loss of his eyesight. It's more likely that, since Paradise Lost was intended to more or less justify God's decisions concerning his creations, Milton was hinting at opinions towards figures of authority.

Answer 5

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