3。4。1 Evilness 10

                3。4。2 Arrogance。 11

                3。4。3 Hypocrisy 。11

4。 Conclusion。13

References14

1。 Introduction

1。1 Background

John Milton is one of the greatest English poets。 His masterpiece, Paradise Lost, is an epic poem in blank verse and is one of the greatest epic poems in the world literature。 Since its publication in 1667, critics have been involved in the debates about this work, especially about the image of Satan。 And the analysis and interpretation about the image of Satan is the key to the understanding of this whole epic。 The different interpretations of Satan have different understanding of the epic。 In literacy circles, many critics like Blake hold the opinion that Satan is the real hero in the book and Paradise Lost is praising the rebellious spirit of Satan which represents the revolutionary spirit of bourgeoisie。 While some critics such as Lewis consider Satan is a devil in the epic。 What’s more , another new point of view that Satan is a contradictory image in the poem appears。 But most articles and books hold the first opinion。 Considering Milton’s  identification , his other works, his experience, his belief, literature traditions and social values and the epic itself, this essay tries to refute the positive image of Satan and prove the negative image in several aspects。 

1。2 Reasons for the  positive image of Satan

This opinion was first held by John Dryden。 He pointed out that the real hero was Satan。 But the most striking and influential and astonishing comments is from Blake, which was called the Satan School。 In the Marriage of Heaven and Hell, he expressed his famous dictum that “the reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angles and God, and at liberty when of Devils and Hell, is because he was a true poet and of the Devil’s party without knowing it。” (陈燊,1992:185)He thought that the great hero in the poem was not Adam but Satan。 Paradise Lost was about reason controlling sinful nature。 Man was mixed with reason and sinful nature。 Milton felt uneasy when portraying angels and God while he felt free to portray Satan。 The fact was that Milton cannot escape from the sinful nature though he had reason。 Therefore, Milton stood at the side of Satan unconsciously。 He laid the foundation of traditional comments and interpretation of this work。(陈燊, 1992:92) But this point of view lacks more objective evidence。 

Under the impact of Blake, critics in 19th century focus on the spirit of the revolution。 Especially William Hazlitt, he praised the grand spirit and determined will of Satan in the first two books。 He thought because of the failure of the revolution Milton stood at the side of Satan unconsciously。 And the romantic poets Shelley and Byron stood by Satan and praised him for his courage in opposing God the tyrant。(刘意青and 刘炅,2008,73) But the interpretation of this work should consider the Bible literature traditions and Europe literature traditions, not only the English revolution。 And the character in the work is just a dramatic persona, which cannot wholly represents the writer or poet。 (沈宏，2013:73- 84)

What’s more, in some books, some critic think that Paradise Lost has English literature traditions。 It has the similar portray about Satan in Caedmon ’s Hymns, particularly in the Genesis B。 In this book, the author narrated the plot of the process of Satan’s degeneration。 And Satan was depicted as a hero who waked up the failed angels to fight against God。(常耀信, 2010,73) But the interpretation of Caedmon ’s Hymns should be consider again。

From what has been discussed above, the reasons why Satan is a positive  image are listed as followed: