In lines 192-241 the first and most striking characteristic of Satan is his enormity. He is described as a "bulk as huge as whom the fables name of monstrous size," (1.196-197) and is compared to Titanian, Briareos or Typhon, and most importantly, Leviathan. The reference to Leviathan is especially significant because the footnotes illuminate the reference to Isaiah's prophecy that "the Lord 'shall punish Leviathan, that crooked serpent.'" Leviathan is a direct parallel to Satan, for Leviathan was punished just as Satan is being punished by God now. Additionally, Leviathan is a sea-serpent, and Satan is being punished for his trickery while in the form of a serpent.
Satan's torturous existence, "Chained on the burning lake," (1.210) is another poignant theme of his description. His excruciating punishments suggest that evil deserves and receives punishment for its wrongdoings. Additionally, his evil is futile, for "all his malice served but to bring forth infinite goodness, grace, and mercy shown on man by him seduced, but on himself treble confusion, wrath, and vengeance poured" (1.217-220). Not only does Satan's evil bring about "goodness and grace," the exact opposite outcomes of his intentions, for man, but his acts of evil are punished severely. The way in which Satan's shameless immorality actually brings out good is reminiscent of Autolycus in Winter's Tale, for they both intend pure evil yet unintentionally help other characters. We have yet to see how Satan's evil benefits others, but it is clear from the vivid descriptions of the hellish landscape that he is already suffering for his mistake.
I also am interested to see how Satan's actions bring goodness to people. This seems to be foreshadowing, and hopefully Milton does in fact include examples of how this is true later in the epic. Satan also seems out of control, and the passive wording of actions such as "vengeance poured" or "On man by him seduced" suggest that either God is interfering with Satan, or Satan is simply losing control of his actions.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up that quote about man as a reference to the impotency of Satan and his evil... yet what force is responsible for Adam and Eve's own fall from grace? It is all too easy to Satan to engineer their banishment from Eden, which doesn't sound like "infinite goodness, grace and mercy" to me. I think it is rash to state that Satan is "futile".
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