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Through Satin’s villainous and evil thoughts, words, and actions, there are surprisingly several noble characteristics that can be noted. Although Satan repeatedly uses these characteristics for the purpose of corruption and malevolence, characteristics of bravery, ambition, and being an opportunist can still be recognized while reading and interpreting the text. Book II opens with the chief devils imparting their viewpoints on which is the best action to take now that they have been expelled from Heaven and sent to this abyss.
Moloch speaks in favor of a war against Heaven, while Belief neuters Moloch with the idea to just accept their punishment and live on with the hope that perhaps God will forgive them one day. Another fallen angel, Bellevue speaks and devises a plan to get their revenge by corrupting Man, God’s newest and most cherished creation. His plan is to go up to Earth and induce Man into sin so that God will have to destroy them. Although all the devils love the idea, none are brave enough to accept the task.
Satan, the opportunist, who has sat quietly throughout the entire meeting, sees this as his chance to prove himself as leader of the entire fleet of rebel angels. An opportunist, by definition, is one who uses situations to uses situations to his or her advantage. As the meeting is going on, one can assume that Satan is sitting there with his scheme already devised, waiting for the perfect moment to shine. He temporarily takes the backseat, until he’s ready to show off his grandeur as noted in Book II line 427. Sitting quietly, he waited as everyone’s ideas were discarded.
As soon as a plan was formulated and everyone agreed, he took the stage, accepting the assignment that everyone loved the idea of, but wasn’t willing to perform. As Satan sets out on this task, his level f ambition is revealed. Willing to face peril and all types of difficulties, he is unyielding in determination to be the hero for the fallen angels and get revenge. In lines 432-433, he acknowledges that “long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light”, but then goes on to say in lines 447-450, that nothing “in the shape of difficulty or danger could deter me from attempting. Underlying Satin’s immorality lays determination and purpose. Even as he approaches sin, which is depicted as a woman who was beautiful from the waist up, but from the waist down was scaly and ugly, and death, he as not deterred. Satan stands up to sin and death and demands that they allow him to pass through the gates of Hell. He is even willing to go to battle with them, who initially had not been identified as his offspring. Satan simply did not care about anything aside from the task at hand.
He was determined accomplish it without anything getting in his way. In this, Satan also shows that he possessed unwavering bravery. He Was not afraid to stand up to God in Heaven and constantly proves to be unafraid of the consequences of his actions throughout the text. He is undaunted by the fact that he has been moved from Heaven and sentenced to the nightmarish and fiery underworld, so much that he is willing to go even further and take on this task of bringing forth the destruction of God’s most beloved creation.
Even after being defeated by God, Satan still proves to be unstoppable. His determination to be victorious in his battle against the power of God is a testament of his bold, yet reckless manner. Satin’s sole motive is revenge and in order to achieve it, he uses these qualities of bravery, ambition, and being an opportunist. His possession of these characteristics comes as a surprise u to the focus on the corruption and manipulation, which also characterize this complex character.
In his challenging of God, recruiting a legion of rebel angels, and aiming to retaliate by corrupting, his actions, support the perception of his possession of these qualities. Satan, in Paradise Lost, is much more than an evil, manipulative, rebel angel. Satan uses virtues, which are commonly perceived as admirable or desired for evil. Although detrimental for the rest of the world, his use of perfect timing, bravery, and ambition, all make him the hero of the fallen angels. References Milton , J. (1667). Paradise lost.