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Discuss Milton's presentation of Satan in Paradise Lost
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- Fri Mar 31 2006

... Q. Discuss Milton's presentation of Satan in Paradise Lost There has been considerable critical interest in the figure of Satan in Paradise Lost, and in the possibility that he may be the true hero of the epic poem. The opening of the poem finds Milton in a tough spot: writing an epic poem without an epic hero in sight. In order to achieve a rationally balanced poem, he wants to let the first half rise from Hell through Chaos and towards Heaven, thereby balancing the fall of humankind in the following Garden scenes. Since Satan is the only point of view (other than God above) that witnesses all of these early scenes, he must be transformed into the hero for the first few books. Besides allowing Milton to add new scenes to the story which is crucial, since all his readers already know the general idea of it, making Satan temporarily heroic














