... been a more powerful figure. Milton, however, fails in making Satan powerful by including so many contradictions between good and evil within the character. As a result of the depth of his development, Satan cannot be typecast as a traditional epic hero or a classic villain. Stein sums up the problem as: If Satan is a tragic hero, it is because we are not honestly willing to test ... good by evil. If Satan is merely an absurd villain, it is because we want to ground our art upon too narrow a certainty; it is because we ... those against him. He is most clearly seen as the antagonist of...

• Word Count: 2236
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School