Paradise Lost

John Milton’s Paradise Lost is a work that attempts, in part, to justify the ways of God to mankind. This is a tremendous undertaking, even for as skilled a craftsman as Milton. In his attempt to achieve his goal, Milton crafts the character of Satan with seemingly great accuracy and skill. His success in breathing life into the character of Satan may be his greatest success in the epic.
Part of the reason why Milton’s task is so ominous is that the seemingly indescribable pervades Paradise Lost. Throughout the epic, Milton is faced with the challenge of not only describing, but manipulating concepts and characters such as God, Paradise, and Satan. These concepts are difficult to work with because of their abstract nature. The difficulty arises from the inability of any human being to comprehend them experientially. No one can truly know what good or evil are in their purest forms. No one can describe the perfect place with total accuracy because no one has ever experienced what it is to live in such a place.
The finest example of this involves the depiction of Paradise throughout Paradise Lost. In his depiction, Milton uses his own experience and understanding to depict a place of perfection. Can he be accurate, how

This and all descriptions of Paradise are incomplete because human beings, without any experience of true Paradise, cannot conceive of a place that is perfect in every respect. How can a place, and life in that place be perfect? Would not such a place become somewhat monotonous? Questions and paradoxes such as these plague anyone who attempts to describe the perfect to any great extent. This is exactly the problem that Milton faces. Paradise, God, and Satan are perfect in their being. God and Paradise are perfect in their goodness and purity, while Satan is perfect in his imperfection. The focus here shall be, as it is in Paradise Lost, Satan.

These lines, spoken by Beëlzebub, at the instruction of Satan, close the argument among the fallen angels as to what course of action they should take, now that they reside in Hell. Satan clearly advocates the complete opposition of God: a position stemming from his hatred. The easier enterprise that they choose is the destruction or damnation of Man, God’s newest creation. Beëlzebub hopes, as does Satan, that “By sudden onset: either with Hell-fire / To waste his whole creation, or possess / All as our own, and drive, as we were driven, / The puny habitants…” (II, 364-367). It quickly becomes clear that Satan selects the latter as his preferred method of opposing God. Because Satan revolts against God, in Heaven, and strives to oppose Him at every turn in Hell, Satan must embody complete Evil.

While reading the first books of Paradise Lost, many disturbing questions concerning the character of Satan arise. The most predominant and most disturbing question seems ask, why is Satan such a charming and attractive character? Not charming and attractive in what he does, but rather in how he acts and how he carries