Editing Paradise Lost (section)

===Satan===
[[File:ParadiseLButts1.jpg|thumb|''Satan Arousing the Rebel Angels'', [[William Blake]] (1808).]]

[[Satan]], formerly called [[Lucifer#As the devil|Lucifer]], is the first major character introduced in the poem. He is a tragic figure who famously declares: "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven" (1.263). Following his vain [[War in Heaven|rebellion]] against [[God in Christianity|God]] he is cast out from Heaven and condemned to Hell. The rebellion stems from Satan's pride and envy (5.660ff.).

Opinions on the character are often sharply divided. Milton presents Satan as the origin of all evil, but some readers interpret Milton's Satan as a nuanced or sympathetic character. [[Romanticism|Romanticist]] critics in particular, among them [[William Blake]], [[Lord Byron]], [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]], and [[William Hazlitt]], are known for interpreting Satan as a hero of ''Paradise Lost''. This has led other critics, such as [[C. S. Lewis]] and [[Charles Williams (British writer)|Charles Williams]], both of whom were devout Christians, to argue against reading Satan as a sympathetic, heroic figure.<ref>{{Citation |last=Carey |first=John |title=Milton's Satan |date=1999-07-22 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/CBO9780511999116A014/type/book_part |work=The Cambridge Companion to Milton |pages=160–174 |editor-last=Danielson |editor-first=Dennis |edition=2 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/ccol052165226x.011 |isbn=978-0-521-65226-1 |access-date=2022-05-02}}</ref><ref name="A Preface to Paradise Lost">{{Cite web |title=A Preface to Paradise Lost |url=https://www.somesmart.com/book/4/a-preface-to-paradise-lost |access-date=2023-12-26 |website=www.somesmart.com}}</ref> Despite Blake thinking that Milton intended for Satan to have a heroic role in the poem, Blake himself described Satan as the "state of error", and as beyond salvation.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Damon |first1=S. Foster |title=A Blake dictionary: the ideas and symbols of William Blake |last2=Eaves |first2=Morris |date=1988 |publisher=University press of New England for Brown university press |isbn=978-0-87451-436-0 |edition=Rev. ed. with a new foreword and annotated bibliography |location=Hanover (N. H.) London}}</ref>

[[John Carey (critic)|John Carey]] argues that this conflict cannot be solved, because the character of Satan exists in more modes and greater depth than the other characters of ''Paradise Lost'': in this way, Milton has created an ambivalent character, and any "pro-Satan" or "anti-Satan" argument is by its nature discarding half the evidence. Satan's ambivalence, Carey says, is "a precondition of the poem's success{{snd}} a major factor in the attention it has aroused".<ref>{{Citation |last=Carey |first=John |title=Milton's Satan |date=1999-07-22 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/CBO9780511999116A014/type/book_part |work=The Cambridge Companion to Milton |page=161 |editor-last=Danielson |editor-first=Dennis |edition=2 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/ccol052165226x.011 |isbn=978-0-521-65226-1 |access-date=2022-05-02}}</ref>

[[C. S. Lewis]] argues in his ''[[A Preface to Paradise Lost]]'' that it is important to remember what society was like when Milton wrote the poem. In particular, during that time period, there were certain "stock responses" to elements that Milton would have expected every reader to have. As examples, Lewis lists "love is sweet, death bitter, virtue lovely, and children or gardens delightful." According to Lewis, Milton would have expected readers to not view Satan as a hero at all. Lewis argues readers far in the future romanticizing Milton's intentions is not accurate.<ref name="brown-corkscrews-2010">{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Devin |date=2010-09-08 |title=Corkscrews, Cathedrals, and the Chronicles of Narnia |url=https://www.cslewis.com/corkscrews-cathedrals-and-the-chronicles-of-narnia/ |access-date=2023-12-26 |website=Official Site {{!}} CSLewis.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Comparative religion]] scholar [[R. J. Zwi Werblowsky]] argues in his ''[[Lucifer and Prometheus]]'' that Milton's Satan is a disproportionately appealing character because of attributes he shares with the [[Greek mythology|Greek]] [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]] [[Prometheus]]. It has been called "most illuminating" for its historical and typological perspective on Milton's Satan as embodying both positive and negative values.<ref>Alessandro Bausani, "Islam in the History of Religions", ''Problems and Methods of the History of Religions'' (Brill, 1972), p. 62.</ref> The book has also been significant in pointing out the essential ambiguity of Prometheus and his dual [[Jesus|Christ]]-like/Satanic nature as developed in the [[Christians|Christian]] tradition.<ref>Gedaliahu G. Stroumsa, "Myth into Metaphor: The Case of Prometheus", ''Gilgul: Essays on Transformation, Revolution and Permanence in the History of Religions'' (Brill, 1987), p. 311.</ref> <!-- Attribution: This paragraph was taken from revision 1282575492 of [[Lucifer and Prometheus]]. -->