Milton depicts Lucifer in a very unique way in
his work Paradise Lost. In lines 242
to 270, Lucifer exclaims his defiance against God and, furthermore, his lack of
interest in changing. Lucifer truly believes he has the power to become greater
than God. This shows how much of a high-risk creature Lucifer is. The quote,
“Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” shows Lucifer’s unwillingness to
better himself, and furthermore shows how strong he is in his opinions, even
though they are completely backwards (Milton 263).
Milton shows Lucifer as a quite envious
character, wanting to be essentially just like God, ruling his part of the
world, Hell, as opposed to God’s heaven. Lucifer goes on explaining how in
Hell, “at least we shall be free…” and then explains the positives of God being
“out of the picture” in Hell (Milton 258-259). Lucifer is seen as quite obsessive
in the given passage, so focused on comparing himself with God and heaven, and
doing whatever he can to make sure his Hell is seen as more superior. Although
Lucifer is clearly evil, he is also seen as an anti-hero that readers can
somehow relate to. Lucifer craves sympathy, and readers, like myself, cannot
help but feel for him. In my opinion, God and Lucifer represent a very common
archetype of the “older brother,” or in this case father. God is always more
successful, and is always seen in a better light, while Lucifer is stuck in his
shadow. Readers can relate to this feeling of being “second best,” and
therefore classify him as a hero, even if he has evil tendencies.
Milton’s Lucifer has made a huge mark on literature
through his creation of a very unpredictable anti-hero. Milton’s Lucifer
explored a new, unexplored area in literature that was somewhat revolutionary,
as it completely changed the way readers rigidly classified a hero and villain.
Milton furthered the idea of the anti-hero, and helped literature evolve into
the multilayered creative outlet it is today.
Works Cited
Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Ed. Scott Elledge.
2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1975.
Jake, I loved your analysis of Milton's depcition of Lucifer... your citation was also used well and helped you to further develop your claims. If you wanted to expand and go further into detail, you could enhance your post by using more concrete examples from the story as we begin to read more of it. Overall, great job!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post Jake! I really liked your "older brother" analogy because I feel that it perfectly clarifies the relationship between God and Lucifer. Compared to Dante's version of Lucifer, Milton's is significantly more powerful. In "Paradise Lost," Lucifer is treated as the ruler of Hell, whereas he is just another sinner in the "Inferno." Such different representations of Lucifer help justify the authors' unique intentions for writing narratives centered on Hell. Nice job!
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