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Paradise Regained & Character of Satan

he first epic and that the rebellion is carefully developed so it seems credible even though Satan and his forces are vastly outnumbered, a fact held back until late in the work in such a way as to create an image of strength and "possibility" for the rebels that the truth would dissipate. Death states that the rebels are actually outnumbered two to one:

Art though that Traitor Angel, art thou he.

Who first broke peace in Heav'n and Faith, till then

Unbrok'n, and in proud rebellious Arms

Drew after him the third part of Heav'ns Sons. . . ? (Paradise Lost, Book II, p. 689).

Waldock states: "The impression carefully built up in book I and confirmed in Book II, is that the rebellion (in the eyes, of course, of the rebels) was a thoroughly rational undertaking, with a fair fighting chance of success" (p. 66).

Satan is, as might be expected, a liar and often makes statements that are suspect. Waldock says that Milton does not expect us to remind ourselves again and again that Satan is a liar and thus a less admirable character than he seems: "We feel the element of bravado in the language; we know that in such circumstances we cannot look for strict accuracy; we do not take the word of these defeated ones for a perfectly literal report of fact. But the drift of their talk cannot but affect us, and it is meant to affect us" (p. 67). As a narrative poet, then, Milton has given himself the job of creating a certain sense of character that makes us forget Satan's reality as an evil and as embodying everything that is not admirable in Christian doctrine, as well as giving this character a power he cannot possibly possess against an antagonist who is Omnipotent: ". . . until such time, at least, as he has his poem properly moving and Satan securely established in our imaginations as a worthy Antagonist of Heaven" (p. 67).

In Paradise Regained, however, these strictures do

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Paradise Regained & Character of Satan. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 05:42, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1697445.html