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    Banasre Biswas
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    Satan delivers several speeches throughout Paradise Lost that seem heroic in nature but ultimately reveal his true evil character. In his first speech, Satan expresses shock over his fallen state but asserts his unconquerable will and commitment to revenge against God. Subsequent speeches further develop Satan's portrayal as a leader but also contain hints of his evil intentions, such as desiring to do ill rather than good. While Satan's speeches appear grand and inspire admiration, they cannot hide his underlying hollow and evil nature, as presented both through his own words and in Milton's characterization.

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    Satan's speeches in Paradise Lost Book1

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    Satan delivers several speeches throughout Paradise Lost that seem heroic in nature but ultimately reveal his true evil character. In his first speech, Satan expresses shock over his fallen state but asserts his unconquerable will and commitment to revenge against God. Subsequent speeches further develop Satan's portrayal as a leader but also contain hints of his evil intentions, such as desiring to do ill rather than good. While Satan's speeches appear grand and inspire admiration, they cannot hide his underlying hollow and evil nature, as presented both through his own words and in Milton's characterization.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    23K views4 pages

    Satan's Speeches

    Uploaded by

    Banasre Biswas
    Satan delivers several speeches throughout Paradise Lost that seem heroic in nature but ultimately reveal his true evil character. In his first speech, Satan expresses shock over his fallen state but asserts his unconquerable will and commitment to revenge against God. Subsequent speeches further develop Satan's portrayal as a leader but also contain hints of his evil intentions, such as desiring to do ill rather than good. While Satan's speeches appear grand and inspire admiration, they cannot hide his underlying hollow and evil nature, as presented both through his own words and in Milton's characterization.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
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    of 4

    Satan's speeches

    As a reader of Milton's Paradise Lost Book-1, its usual that one will mistake
    Satan as the epic Hero, because of his strong speeches. The impression that
    one gets after examining Satan's speeches is that of nobility and greatness. But
    if we carefully examine Satan's speeches we will find that he is the
    personification of evil.

    Beelzebub is the First person to whom Satan addresses " and till then who
    knew the force of those dire arms?" Satan tells that God eventually proved
    stronger because of his power of Thunder. He then tells that he is not repentant
    of his rebellion against God, and his mind is "fixed". "What though the field be
    lost? All is not lost: the unconquerable will, and study of revenge, immortal
    hate, and courage never to submit or yield"- This speech gives Satan a true
    heroic stature, he says that they did not lose everything, they still have their
    unconquerable willpower, and courage never to submit or surrender.

    Satan second speech is again made to Beelzebub, he says "to be weak is


    miserable, doing or suffering", this speech undoubtedly have heroic texture in it,
    but immediately after this speech Satan evil nature comes out, when he says
    "to do ought good never will be our task, but ever to do i'll our sole delight". If
    God seeks "to bring forth good" out of good they will still find means of evil.
    With such a statement only a handful of readers and critics can sympathize
    with Satan.

    Satan's third and the most important speech is also made to Beelzebub, his
    only listener. The third speech of Satan is very popular and impressive, it acts
    on the conscience of the reader. In this speech Satan shows his love of
    freedom and hatred of slavery. He refers to himself as a "new possessor" of
    hell and claims to be "One who brings a mind not to be changed by place or
    time,'' he further talks about the power of mind "the mind is in its own place,
    and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven". His love for freedom
    is depicted in his speech where he says. "Here atleast we shall be free" "To
    reign is worth ambition though in hell, it is better to reign in hell than to serve in
    heaven". Such remarks undoubtedly will inspire and impress any reader.

    Satan fourth and fifth speech is addressed to the fallen angels. These
    speeches undoubtedly shows Satan's leadership quality and power of his
    words. Satan refers to fallen angels as "princes, potentates, and warriors".
    Satan with his words made the fallen angels ashamed for their immobility. He
    further flatters fallen angels by referring them as "power matchless, but with the
    Almighty"

    Blake said that, in writing Paradise Lost, Milton was of the devil's party without
    knowing it. Undoubtedly the portrayal of Satan through his speeches are grand
    and worthy of the highest admiration, but also we cannot skip the hollowness of
    Satan's evil character, presented by his own speeches and comments on the
    character of Satan by Milton himself.
    I can help you get started so you can write a note on Satan's speeches on your
    own. We'll use Satan's first speech in​ ​Book I​ (excerpt above) to orient you in
    terms of analysis; you can then analyze more speeches for greater insight and
    detail.

    There are three things that Milton wants to stand out in particular for the reader
    in this first introduction to Satan, things that will remain relevant to Satan's other
    speeches. The first is Satan's emotion. The second is Satan's assertion of his
    right to independent will. The third is his commitment to revenge and hatred.

    We see his emotion in the shock and surprise with which he surveys the scene
    before him

    But O how fall'n! how chang'd

    From him, who in the happy Realms of Light [...]

    Joynd with me once, now misery hath joynd

    In equal ruin:

    Milton is adding a significant innovation to the​ ​characterization​ of Satan by


    having him demonstrate emotion. That Biblical accounts of angels may show
    them expressing emotion is generally overlooked.

    We clearly see Satan's assertion of independent will in his line:

    All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,

    Satan, though fallen, continues to assert his right to wage war against God and
    demand equal or higher place with him. This is a characterization that, when
    combined with emotion, produces a representation of him that is human-like.

    We also clearly see Satan's commitment to revenge and hatred, which is


    coupled with confirmation of independent will:

    And study of revenge, immortal hate,


    And courage never to submit or yield:

    Milton here provides Satan with a motive to carry him through the ensuing story
    that will unfold and involve Adam and Eve. Without this motive--if left with
    something non-human, like an instinctual reaction--Milton couldn't have painted
    the vivid illustration of Paradise lost as he has done.

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