Into Satan's Hell
A close analysis of Milton's portrayal of Satan and Hell, from a passage in book 2, lines 299-479.
INTO SATAN'S HELL
Lucifer, bringer of light, known more commonly as the infamous Satan, is Paradise Lost?s most complex character. He is in fact the only character in the epic for whom our sympathy, admiration, disgust, and hatred is elicited (although not necessarily in that order). As the reader moves through the poem, a little more of Satan?s complexity is revealed. One moment he is a scheming creature, the next, a pitiful fallen angel, another, an ambitious evil that must be defeated at all cost. Which of these Satans is the true one? What, or who is at the centre of this fallen creature? I believe this question is still being asked and puzzled over by some today, and using the above extract from Book 2, will endeavour to throw some light on how Milton portrayed Satan in this manner and why.
The selected passage takes place in the middle of the hellish counsel. Moloch, Belial and Mammon have had their turns at speaking, and it now falls to Beelzebub to say a few words. Second in command to Satan, Beelzebub is described by Milton as a ?pillar of state? who offers ?princely counsel?, ?majestic though in ruin?with Atlantean shoulders? (P41, L302-6). From the way Milton describes him, one would think that Beelzebub was a wise old philosopher, when he is in fact the right hand man of the devil. This is truly an ironic description, for instead of describing Hell?s counsel with fire and brimstone, Milton makes it sound like a diplomatic political debate where the three lesser devils are the opposition and Beelzebub is the PAP representative. Even his speech is cultured and persuasive; in fact, very much like Satan?s. ?Thrones and imperial Powers, offspring of heav?n, Ethereal Virtues? (P41, L310), he addresses the counsel as such, echoing Satan?s opening lines later in the passage: ?O progeny of heav?n, empyreal Thrones? (P44, L430). Beelzebub dismisses the previous plans suggested by the three devils, and brings up the idea of spying on Man, so that ?some advantageous act [on Earth] may be achieved/ By sudden onset?To waste [God?s] whole creation, or possess/ All as our own? (P42, L363 ? 6). This would ?surpass/ Common revenge? (P42, L370 ? 1)and they would be able to live like gods in the earthly paradise God had created for mankind to live in. No sooner has he ended his speech than we are told by Milton that this plan was not Beelzebub?s but Satan?s, ?first devised?and in part proposed? by the ?author of all ill? (P43, L379 ? 381). Beelzebub is merely a spokesperson, and it is Satan who has real vested interest in Man, Satan who burns with anger, and Satan who longs for revenge against God. What better way of revenging his battered pride than destroying God?s pride and joy, to ?spite/ The great Creator? (P43, L384 ? 5)? Using Beelzebub as his mouthpiece, Satan not only makes it seem like the idea came from the common devils, but also increases his hero-status when he later intentionally volunteers to explore Earth himself. This way of putting forth his own plan also makes the devils feel some sense of importance for although Beelzebub is Satan?s chief commander, Beelzebub is ultimately from their midst and for ?one of their own? to put forth such a plan, it would not seem like Satan was pushing his ideas on them. Besides, Satan could also have been apprehensive at bringing up this idea himself as the last time he pushed one of his ambitious ideas on the devils, they were thrown out of Heaven and sent to a burning lake of fire. Thus by Satan?s using Beelzebub to speak his mind, we can see that he is not only ambitious as Book 1 showed, but also a brilliant strategist. After all, he let the first three devils ramble on to appease the masses, and then instigated Beelzebub to speak in that cajoling, logical tone.
The second point I will raise deals with Satan?s response to his own call for a sacrifice, again made through Beelzebub. After raising the suggestion of seeking out Earth and the new race of Man, the devils voted for the plan with ?joy/ [Sparkling] in all their eyes? (P43, L386 ? 8), Beelzebub then says that they have to send an emissary to seek out the new world, to ?tempt with wand?ring feet/ The dark unbottomed infinite abyss? (P43, L404 ? 5) before they can take any action. In other words, the devils can conquer Earth for their own provided one of them finds out where it is. This calls for the supreme sacrifice, because outside of Hell is an endless chasm of darkness filled with unnamed horrors, and there is always the possibility that once the chosen one reaches Paradise, he could be found out and punished even more severely. It is no surprise, really, when Satan volunteers himself, because he had to have some sort of motive for engineering the whole plan. It is his thirst for revenge and hatred of God that spurred him to produce the plan, but Milton reveals later that he has another motive other than passion that made him volunteer. When Satan finally makes his calculated speech, he does so with such eloquence and sincerity that one is almost fooled into believing him. The devils are, incidentally. The tone of his words from lines 430 ? 466 is laced with a mixture of deference ?but I should ill become this throne, O Peers?, bravado, ?while I abroad/ Through all the coasts of dark destruction seek/ Deliverance for us all? and self-sacrifice ?this enterprise/ None shall partake with me?. He is truly a born politician, for he hits all the right spots with the devils, telling them that he feels their pain and how terrible it must be to suffer within burning adamantine gates, while at the same time slipping in his giving, thoughtful, self-sacrificial nature. Just when we are on the brink of believing he is really willing to sacrifice himself, Milton reveals to us that Satan ?prevented all reply?lest from his resolution raised/ Others?winning cheap the high repute/ Which he through hazard huge must earn.? (P45, L468 ? 473). This shows that Satan was actually volunteering for the sake of gaining gratification and admiration from the devils. It is for self-honour and the need for recognition, and not because he really cares what happens to the rest of the devils. Milton does hint to us of his real motives in line 429: ??conscious of higher worth?, and this tells us that Satan deems himself loftier than any other devil. This need to be looked up to then raises the question of whether Satan is suffering from an inferiority complex: Does he need the recognition so much that if he can?t get it in Heaven, he will try to get it in Hell? Maybe so, because it seems that all of Satan?s deeds up to this point are spurred by prideful arrogance, maybe even more than his thirst for revenge.
Perhaps the real question we must ask is not about Satan?s motives or his character, for no one, not even Milton, can guess accurately at what Satan was thinking or if he was really as remorseful as Milton portrayed him. We should instead question why Milton portrayed Satan the way he did. Up to this point, and especially in Book 1, the character of Satan was the target of our sympathy due to his obvious remorse as written by Milton. But in this passage, deeper layers of Satan are revealed and we find ourselves wondering, if Satan is remorseful out of true repentance or is he remorseful that he no longer has the right to access Heaven and all its pleasures, and be privy to God?s counsels as one of His favoured archangels? Either way, because Milton puts words literally into Satan?s mouth that bring across to us the image of a tragic hero, a fallen angel, majestic wings crumpled and gazing up in despair, our pity is elicited. Instead of seeing the conventional Satan with horns and a forked tail, we see him in a more human, prone to fallibility like the rest of us and subject to human feelings. We start to wonder, if God really is omniscient, why did he not prevent this from happening? Is his gift of choice really a gift of freedom, because if we make the wrong choices like Satan we will be damned and trapped in Hell too? And this questions our own sense of good and bad, our moral values and conscience. It challenges the basic values that we have been brought up with, especially those values stemming from Christianity, because the Hellish counsel and the revealing of Satan?s motives shake us rudely into seeing that the sad, pitiful fallen Lucifer we are sympathising with is actually a demon with evil as his ultimate core. By portraying Satan as such, then, Milton makes us realise how na?ve and gullible we can be, and how susceptible we are to being attracted to the dark side. He makes us realise, that because of our human frailty, that is, passion or the ability to feel, clouds our reason and judgement and blurs the line between good and evil such that we fall into Satan?s spell, to a point where we even question God.
In conclusion, Milton?s portrayal of Satan in this passage using dialogue and the narrative, reveals to us the deeper evil of Satan and his scheming mind, hidden behind a mask of goodwill and selflessness. His motive was not to bring Satan to us as a tragic hero, but rather to show us our own frailty as humans and to make us question our judgement in relation to what is good or bad. It also foreshadows the conflicted Satan we will encounter in later passages, especially in Book 4, and wakes us from this lull of believing Satan is who he really isn?t. Satan may very well say one thing, but Milton as the omniscient narrator tells us his hidden agenda, and this contrast of thought and deed is what shakes us to our core and forces us to read Paradise Lost with a more cautionary, wise eye, and makes us see the true light of Satan?s darkness.
Bibliography:
Milton, John. ?Book Two ? The Argument.? Paradise Lost. 2nd ed. Ed. Scott Elledge. New York: Norton, 1993. 40 ? 45, L299 ? 479
