Speech 1: Satan’s Address To Beelzebub
And thence in Heav’n call’d Satan, with bold wordsBreaking the horrid silence thus began.
And thence in Heav’n call’d Satan, with bold words
Breaking the horrid silence thus began.
“If thou beest he; But O how fallen! How chang’d
From him, who in the happy Realms of Light
Cloth’d with transcendent brightness didst out-shine
Myriads though bright: If he whom mutual league,
United thoughts and counsels, equal hope
And hazard in the Glorious Enterprize,
Joynd with me once, now misery hath joynd
In equal ruin: into what Pit thou seest
From what highth fall’n, so much the stronger prov’d
He with his Thunder: and till then who knew
The force of those dire Arms? Yet not for those,
Nor what the Potent Victor in his rage
Can else inflict, do I repent or change,
Though chang’d in outward lustre; that fixt mind
And high disdain, from sence of injur’d merit,
That with the mightiest rais’d me to contend,
And to the fierce contention brought along
Innumerable force of Spirits arm’d
That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring,
His utmost power with adverse power oppos’d
In dubious Battel on the Plains of Heav’n,
And shook his throne. What though the field be lost?
All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield:
And what is else not to be overcome?
That Glory never shall his wrath or might
Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace
With suppliant knee, and deifie his power,
Who from the terrour of this Arm so late
Doubted his Empire, that were low indeed,
That were an ignominy and shame beneath
This downfall; since by Fate the strength of Gods
And this Empyreal substance cannot fail,
Since through experience of this great event
In Arms not worse, in foresight much advanc’t,
We may with more successful hope resolve
To wage by force or guile eternal Warr
Irreconcileable, to our grand Foe,
Who now triumphs, and in th’ excess of joy
Sole reigning holds the Tyranny of Heaven.”
ANALYSIS
In speech one John Milton has represented Satan as a mighty figure who allures and repelsequally. He refuses to admit his defeat and wants to chase what he believes in. Before the speechbegins, Satan found himself lying next to Beelzebub. Beelzebub is a representation of Satan’scompanion who is believed to be one of the seven princes of hell and is known as the lord of flyers. Satan begins his speech by showing Expressions of shock and sorrow at the sight of his fallenmate. One can easily mistakes Satan as hero because of his impactful speeches that he has madeto his companions.
The display of Satan’s greatness and nobility in Milton’s work creates pity inreaders mind as it denies his knowledge of Satan as evil. Satan’s first speech shows his leadershipqualities as he emboldens and harmonizes with his companions with bold words. “If thou beest he,” In the first line Satan compares Beelzebub new condition to his previous moresplendid self. Satan’s way of speaking refers to reminiscence that gives the idea of callingsomething to mind.
By remembering Beelzebub previous glory, Satan guarantees his status asatrustworthy companion. With this Satan also reminds Beelzebub of their common cause. Hefocuses on the problems that is shared between them. The exclamation “but o How fall’n howchang’d” helps Satan play the role of a worried friend. Satan uses a language that is embellishedenough to hide his selfishness and causes persuasion in his companion’s mind. As we read on wefind that Satan wants Beelzebub on his during the discussion between the falling angles. Furtherhe calls heaven as” the happy realms of light”.
It shows Satan’s rebellious character. Satan spendsfirst part of his utterance persuading his companion. He takes pity on the change in his friend’scondition. Later on, he refers to their friendship of risky companionship in heaven and now in theirpresent wretchedness. Satan describes “equal hope, and hazard in glorious enterprize”. Thealliteration between H sounds in this phrase emphasizes the equality between words hope andhazard.
It also shows the extra additional word equal when there is alliteration in words he wants to equate. This may represent excessiveness. It reveals a character flaw that Satan is someone whowill embellish his language in order to abandon the moral aspects. By analyzing first few lines of the speech it is obvious that Satan’s words are great, arousing andare repeated often. He begins by establishing his character as a heroic figure who has the courageto dare, grandeur of sufferance and leadership qualities. Then proceeds with thoughtful discourseand ends with attention on sentimental accuses.
In the next lines Satan starts his speech by representing himself as a strong and a powerful characterand uses words that are evoking and triggering and often repeated. He has represented himself asa character who has bravery, boldness and courage to challenge. Then he continues with thoughtfulconversation and further ends with emotional condemns. Satan’s unapologetic, devious nature is persistent. Even after being defeated, he remains stubbornand is not ready to accept any changes rather he forces his evil companions that their charm andgratification is in doing bad.
He further clarifies to Beelzebub that he wants to divert people fromGod’s will and help them carve evil out of good. Continuing his conversation, he says that hispowers won’t be sufficient enough to oppose the devastating and immense power of God. As inthe line, “so much the stronger proved, He with his Thunder” he says that God has anoverwhelming power and is much stronger than me and he doesn’t have a fair competitor as hiscompetitor is much stronger in all ways than him.
Again in lines, “” The force of those dire arms“he says that he didn’t knew before the competition that the opponent would be so strong otherwisethey would have planned correspondingly. In the lines, “that fixt mind, and high disdain, fromsence of injured merit, that with the mightiest raised me to contend” he continues by accusingGod for his proud and rebellious character. He thinks that his freedom is equally important toGod’s will and he better be the majesty in hell rather than slave in heaven.
Hence, keeping in mind the above characteristics, Satan’s character can be deduced as antiherobecause of his arrogant and ambitious nature which leads him to succeed in spreading evil aroundthe world. He is also determined in doing whatever is his job either good or bad and continuouslymotivating his fellows. Furthermore the two main concepts illustrated by Milton are Satan’s insistence upon his will ofindependency and secondly his devotion to take revenge combined with hatred.
There are evidences in the text that gives information that Satan is playing the role of ANTI-HERO in hisspeech though at times Satan appears as a HERO; protagonist but still than he does not have thequalities a classical hero should have as he is the portrayal of good and evil at the same time. Satan is very much proud about his powers and about his companions that they choose him ratherthan to be with the most powerful God.
Though he is satisfied but still praises the powers and thevictory of God, but still than he has the negativity behind. The way Milton wrote the words of Satan are so much in balance between selflessness andselfishness.
“WHAT THOUGH THE FIELD BE LOST?”-show that Satan might accept his defeat and hisfailure but it’s not. How Milton wrote the next line is so beautifully structured as“ALL IS NOT LOST”- these words shows the reason behind his rebellion. He is shown verymuch determined to fight for his rights and the rights of his companion angles, his equal place withGod but still in the negative way, he has all the bad ideas and evil thoughts in his minds, his soulpurpose is destruction and claiming his position. These features are meant only for the anti-hero.
Also AND STUDY OF REVENGE, IMMORTAL HATE- his commitment towards revengeand his hate that is never going to fade away clearly pictures Satan as an anti-hero. A hero on theother hand wants success but through just means.
AND COURAGE NEVER TO SUBMIT OR YIELD; – shows Satan’s determination towardsfight that he is courageous enough and addressing to the fallen angels as well to stay determined . Satan has some clear motives behind his revenge. As a leader Satan does pay respect to the qualitiesof Satan. And as well as shown as a great leader by submission of courage but still than he is an ANTI-HERO because of both good and bad qualities.
As an anti-hero he has the qualities of beingcruel, rude, having envy, constant hate, and desire to achieve something by any means whetherjust or unjust. For some he might be a hero because of his leadership qualities, his courage and somehowremorse quality make him more humanlike, a hero. All these qualities are of a hero butSatan has them with negativity in it and so my argument rests; Satan is acting like an ANTI-HERO.
In the following lines of the PARADISE LOST by Milton Satan’s character is being depicted asan Anti – hero. Anti – hero is the one having both the characteristic of a hero and a villain. He isdepicted as an Anti – hero because as we know that a hero is always courageous, good and helpfulto others. In the beginning he points towards his unremarkable strength in a more proud mannerand is pitting himself against an unjust God.
The towering aspect which distinguished him asahero is his pride and study of his revenge. He challenges the very nature of the universe and wasfeeling proud on his act of challenging and disobeying the superior power. Such characteristicsdon’t fulfils the requirement of the definition of a hero as he was doing all this not for the sake ofothers benefit but he just wants revolt against God in order to fulfill his lust for power.
Satan wasshown as morally degraded figure because his character degenerates and he fails to produce heroicimpression. Satan was an emotionally complex character he just examine everything in terms ofwhat will happen and his such interest turn on his personal desires and due to such false preferenceshe didn’t fit completely in the definition of a hero but can be regarded as a tragic hero because hepretends to be great but always destined to fail.
As he was an Anti – hero so he has some of thequalities of a villain too which shows that he was a witch character and is personified of evil justconsidering his desires and preferences. His hostility to Almighty power is ultimately a futileendeavor. He just blames God’s strength without any reason rather than commenting on his leadhe refuses to accept his defeat by putting forward excuses and continuously blaming God’s power.
These are the specifications which depicts Satan as an Anti – hero in the respective lines. In the next lines of Satan’s speech may confess you to believe him as a strong, effective andattractive personality. He might appear as a protagonist but he is an antihero who can’t bare hisdefeat. In these lines in which he addresses Beelzebub shows his anger of being defeated by God. Milton shows Satan’s character as a contrast between good and evil as some people perceive himas a strong speaker while others as a negative entity who is misleading people through his strongspeeches.
In line 36 people as readers may perceive him as if he is praising God and calling heavenan undefeatable thing but actually he is calling himself a heavenly substance and undefeatableentity. “And this empyreal substance cannot fail”He can’t bare his defeat that is why he is saying that through this great event he is able to plan hisrevenge.
He shows an angle of hope to get the revenge and a chance of getting success. Some9people perceive him as an embodiment of hope but he shows his will to take revenge and defeatGod. “Since through experience of this great eventIn arms not worse, in foresight not advanc’tWe may with more successful hope resolve”He is ready for an immortal war and considers himself as a soldier who will fight till getting successthat is why he is still misleading people from faith by force and his strong speeches.
“To wage by force or guile eternal warr”In next lines he clearly mentions God as his enemy and shows his rebellious and antagonisticnature. He says that God is my enemy and He has defeated me and is happy on my failure and Hisown success. “Irreconcileable, to our grand foe,Who now triumphs, and in the excess of joy,”In the last line of his address he says that only authority holds the lord of heaven and somehow heis willing to get that authority to hold the tyranny of heaven. “Sole reigning holds the tyranny of heaven”