Proposal outline: On Satan
Mar. 8th, 2006 04:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jhameiaIn this paper I will attempt to exonerate the character of Satan in Milton's Paradise Lost by examining the circumstances around the Fall of Adam and Eve. I will refer to the Fall as the felix culpa, the happy mistake, and I will point out that Satan's circumstances, character and action provide a framework of human psychology.
Firstly, I will outline the circumstances that the Divine has set upon Satan and Man - the limits of free will versus Fate. I will argue that if Fate does exist and God does have a plan for Mankind, then it is impossible to place all blame on Satan for his transgression: humans themselves would be blasphemous to assume that they understand all of God's plan. I will use the argument of two characters from the novel "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: that God's will is Ineffable. Furthermore, if we work within a framework of Fate, then perhaps Satan was meant to cause the Fall and to forever condemn him for his transgression (which would not even be a transgression as it is according to plan) would be injustice.
I will then move on to Satan's own position in Hell as ruler despite his banishment. While it is true that Satan is a slave to his past and passionate nature, there is no denying that he and the other fallen angels have carved out a place for themselves in Hell, to the point of taking an overwhelming place in Biblical literature as a place of fear. I will refer heavily to the primary text in order to point out how, despite defeat and failure, Satan and his followers continue to plow an existence and set themselves a goal to aim for. It is representative of the state of Mankind that will overcome adversity and endure.
Finally, I will examine Adam and Eve's circumstances: they have executed agency of their own, and having eaten the fruit of Knowledge, they now know how to differentiate between good and evil. Moreover, they have discovered in each other a partnership that may not have been possible without the Fall - through dialogue with his "Other self" Eve, Adam moves from hopelessness of their situation and endures.
"It's not my fault / if in God's Plan / he made the Devil so much stronger than a man"
--- A cookie if you can identify where that quote comes from =)
Firstly, I will outline the circumstances that the Divine has set upon Satan and Man - the limits of free will versus Fate. I will argue that if Fate does exist and God does have a plan for Mankind, then it is impossible to place all blame on Satan for his transgression: humans themselves would be blasphemous to assume that they understand all of God's plan. I will use the argument of two characters from the novel "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: that God's will is Ineffable. Furthermore, if we work within a framework of Fate, then perhaps Satan was meant to cause the Fall and to forever condemn him for his transgression (which would not even be a transgression as it is according to plan) would be injustice.
I will then move on to Satan's own position in Hell as ruler despite his banishment. While it is true that Satan is a slave to his past and passionate nature, there is no denying that he and the other fallen angels have carved out a place for themselves in Hell, to the point of taking an overwhelming place in Biblical literature as a place of fear. I will refer heavily to the primary text in order to point out how, despite defeat and failure, Satan and his followers continue to plow an existence and set themselves a goal to aim for. It is representative of the state of Mankind that will overcome adversity and endure.
Finally, I will examine Adam and Eve's circumstances: they have executed agency of their own, and having eaten the fruit of Knowledge, they now know how to differentiate between good and evil. Moreover, they have discovered in each other a partnership that may not have been possible without the Fall - through dialogue with his "Other self" Eve, Adam moves from hopelessness of their situation and endures.
"It's not my fault / if in God's Plan / he made the Devil so much stronger than a man"
--- A cookie if you can identify where that quote comes from =)