Milton's Satan

Apologies if you're in Brit Lit I, this will be a bit of a rehash.

Today I recited, not so well, a passage from Book 1 of Milton's epic poem about the Fall of Satan and Men, Paradise Lost. The poem begins with Satan and his compatriots, after having lost in a civil war against God, awaking in Hell. Reminds me of waking up with a hangover and wondering what happened, what now? Finding themselves as exiles, opponents of God, they resign to their fate, essentially saying, "Well, guess we gotta be evil now! Shucks." They get about to establishing themselves, with Satan and his right-hand man Beëzlebub delivering copious monologues and soliloquys. Given Milton's background as a Puritan reformer and Latin Secretary under Oliver Cromwell, remaining committed to the ideas of the Commonwealth after the English Civil War and Restoration (of monarchy), his portrayal of Satan as a complicated, even sympathetic character, who rebels against the absolute monarchy of God, is surprising. Below is the excerpt I chose to recite, part of a speech by Satan concerning his thoughts on Heaven and God:

Farewell happy fields

Where joy forever dwells; Hail horrors, hail

Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell

Receive thy new possessor: one who brings

A mind not to be changed by place or time.

The mind is its own place, and in itself

Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.

What matter where, if I be still the same,

And what I should be, all but less than he

Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least

We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built

Here for his envy; will not drive us hence:

Here we may reign secure, and in my choice

To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:

Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n.

(Paradise Lost 1.249-263)

Satan says goodbye to Heaven, nevertheless remarking that a mind like his can make "a Heav'n of Hell." Critiquing God's leadership, he asserts that his mind "will not be changed by place or time," he will not error like God supposedly has. Elsewhere in the poem, he openly admits that God is more powerful, the reason his force of fallen angels lost. In fact, God failed to inform them that he was omnipotent - a point of contention. Regardless, Satan sees himself as an equal of God's, just a little less powerful than he "Whom thunder hath made greater." He still views himself and his colleagues as angels, 'What matter where, if I be still the same," who have found safety in Hell where they "shall be free" from God's autocratic rule and "may reign secure" on their own. Finally, Satan sums it all up, "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n."

Imagine my surprise in finding the most complex, shades-of-grey portrayal of Satan being made by a 17th century Puritan reformist? Even today, amongst believers and skeptics alike, including a nontheist like myself, the figure of Satan is almost always associated with absolute evil - an unbending antagonist.

Milton's Satan, hero of moral relativism? God, don't tell the moral absolutists!