Fall From Grace - Uno studio sul Satana miltoniano

Fall from Grace
1. Introduction                                                                                                     Matteo Sanesi
The goal of this essay is to outline a portrait of Satan created by Milton in Paradise Lost. He is the
tormented anti-hero, the villain, and the main character, all at the same time. How could this be? We
need to delve deep in his mind, his reasons, and his travels across Hell, the Void, Eden, and
Paradise. We need to interpret his view in order to understand his multifaceted character. He is
flawed, passionate, and struggles against all odds.
John Milton, like a skilled hunter, left some tracks and hints behind, in order to let us identify
ourselves with the Fiend. Although it can seem somewhat strange to sympathize with a demon, the
reader cannot help but do so, when Satan’s fight ends up in disaster, and still he fights on. This
essay also aims at exploring the magnificent, spectacular environments depicted by Milton, be it
Pandemonium Fortress, the roiling ashes of Hell, the infinite hills of Paradise, and the shaded
woods of Eden. I shall explain in detail how and why Satan, while accountable for all evil, is more
human than Adam and Eve, and how his actions gave birth to the dimensions of space and time as
we know them.
How can a leader so majestic become the king of lies and brimstone? At a first glance, it would feel
natural to feel sympathy for Adam, or the Son. And, during Milton’s time, it was obvious that no
one would side with the Devil. But with nowadays’ tools, with critical essays written across the
years, we have gained new insight, and we have found new ways to look at the different
perspectives. I will necessarily focus just on some specific aspects, namely those related to Satan,
and those linked to him, like Death, Sin, Abdiel’s change of heart, and the significance of various
other characters through Paradise Lost. In the end, the whole poem gravitates around the Fiend’s
figure, and none of the events would have happened without his intervention.
Should we, then, praise Satan’s action? No, this is not the purpose of this essay. Instead, I will try to
make the Betrayer look somewhat human, because the human dimension is one we can relate to.
Through understanding, we can pierce the veil of lies that seems woven by Satan himself before our
very eyes. I hope my personal interpretations and my explanations will be enough to show the
complexity of Milton’s masterpiece and also its modernity, which makes it still appealing to
contemporary readers.
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-Matteo Sanesi
1.1. John Milton – the author
John Milton was born in 1608 from John Milton and Sarah Jeffery, Bread Street, Cheapside. His
father was a scribe, and his mother was a liturgical music composer. In 1618 he meets Thomas
Young, a Scottish puritan, who helps him become a latinist.
In 1620 Milton enters St. Paul's School of London, and finds Charles Diodati, who interests him
in studying Italian. In 1625, he enters Christ's College, Cambridge, but his relation with William
Chappell (his tutor) is not friendly, and this leads the future author of Paradise Lost to be driven out
of the college temporarily. On 25 December of the following year he writes “On the Morning of
Christ's Nativity”, and his anti-catholic tendencies start to rise.
In 1632 Milton graduates with the “Master of Arts” title, and quits his ecclesiastical career
because of issues with the Anglican clergy. Five years later, his mother, Sarah, dies, and is buried in
Horton. In the same year, in November, Milton writes the elegy “Lycidas”, remembering his friend
Edward King, who had died by drowning just a month before.  In 1638, Milton visits the major
cultural points of interest in Europe. He meets Grotius, Galileo, Giovan Battista Manso, and is back
in England in August. The following year he writes “Epitaphium Daemonis” in remembrance of
Charles Diodati, who died while Milton was in Geneve.
The Civil War bursts in 1642, and Milton sides with the Parliament. There's a profound political
commitment on his part. In those years, he publishes “Of Prelatical Episcopacy”, “Animadversions
upon the Remonstrants Defense”, and “The Reason for Church Government”. In 1642  he marries
Mary Powell, but the marriage does not go as planned, and she leaves after just one month. Milton
is interested in the theme of divorce as witnessed by his “Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce”,
published more than once. Two years later he will write “Aeropagitica”, against censorship and
defending the freedom of press. In 1645 he comes to terms with his wife, and the couple is whole
again. In October 1648, their daughter Mary is born. Milton keeps writing and opposing the
Presbyterians.
On 30 January1649, King Charles the First is executed, and Milton writes “Tenure of Kings and
Magistrates”, defending the reasons behind the King's execution. Milton is now Secretary of the
State, and must work on translations, but he must also come to the defense of the government
should the monarchist front attack. In fact, in 1650, the State orders him to answer Salmasio's
“Defensio Regia”. In 1651 he publishes “Defensio pro populo Anglicano”, and his son, John, is
born. The same year the family moves to Westminster, but the following year, Milton will lose his
sight to a glaucoma. His newborn son dies, and so does his wife. He is still a Secretary, and keeps
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answering to the monarchists' attacks: his “Defensio Secunda” is published soon after, defending his
own reputation and the parliament. In 1655  he begins working on “De Doctrina Christiana” and his
masterpiece, Paradise Lost. He marries Katherine Woodcock in 1656, and a daughter, Katherine, is
born. 
Four years later, the monarchy is back, under King Charles II. Milton flees from place to place,
fearing for his life. Some of his writings are burned in public, and in October, he is arrested, but he
is freed in December on order of the Parliament. In 1660, while the king starts the Restauration,
Milton publishes the second edition of his “The Ready and Easy Way To Establish a Free
Commonwealth”. After the death of Katherine, Milton marries Elizabeth Minshull, in 1663. His
daughter, Mary, isn't happy with his decision, and family problems arise.
Two years later, Paradise Lost is finished and published in ten books, in 1667. In the following
years, he publishes “Accidence Commenc't Grammar”, History of Britain, Paraside Regain'd and
Samson Agonistes. His last works of note are “Epistolae Familiares” and “Prolusiones”, in 1674. He
dies that same year, on the 8 November, in the night. He is buried four days later near his father at
Cripplegate, in St. Giles’ Church.
1.2. What is Paradise Lost?
Milton’s masterpiece, Paradise Lost, was published for the first time in 1667. It was divided into
ten books, but the following edition, in 1674, had two more, following the steps of Virgil’s Aeneid.
It is an epic poem, a term which refers to a rather lengthy literary work that focuses on very
important matters and acts of heroism; and it is written in blank verse, with a regular metrical
scheme, but lacking rhymed lines.
Fabio Cicero
1
 points out how the action starts in medias res, something typical of the epic genre.
As mentioned before, Milton lost his sight in 1652, so he had to write the entirety of his poem
through dictation. The early times of its compositions weren’t happy for him, since he was often
unwell and he had just lost Katherine, his second wife, as well as his daughter.
Paradise Lost covers the events going from Satan’s betrayal and fall from the high heavens, to
Man’s losing his celestial status among the lush lifeforms of Eden, after being deceived into
abandoning God’s ways. The poem is often controversial, hard to understand. Nevertheless, many
of Milton’s commentators invoked “the capacity of his poetry to enlarge the imagination of his
readers”. Indeed, through the poet’s words, we find ourselves in a completely different dimension,
1 Fabio Cicero, Introduction to Paradise Lost, Milano, Bompiani Editore, 2009, pp.7-8.
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yet somehow familiar, which we can contemplate from afar; this is why one of the most cherished
keywords associated with Milton is “sublimity”. Following the public release of Paradise Lost,
though, many critics and experts couldn’t see the value of the poem, and had issues with some of
Milton’s bold choices: for one, the compresence of spiritual and physical matter in angels. One of
the most important arguments is the presence of God. John Clarke
2
 says that it is a very daring
decision to portray God and the angels, which is true from a religious standpoint. God’s decisions
are unfathomable, and Milton, in trying to explain the Lord’s reasons, ideally places himself on the
high throne, effectively deciding what God is going to say. In this regard, Clarke is right, but we
musn’t let this prevent us from enjoying the values and tensions that are conveyed through Paradise
Lost; Milton’s “boldness” is just one part of the Poem, and so, one mustn’t focus on that aspect
only. Unlike other epic poems, Milton’s Paradise Lost focuses not just on the destiny of people and
kingdoms, but of all mankind.
Among the early critics, only a few managed to see the true scale of the poem. Wentworth Dillon,
Earl of Roscommon, is one of them; he admired Milton, both for the theme of the poem, and for its
blank verse
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:
     Have we forgot how Raphaels Num’rous Prose
     Led out exalted Souls through heavenly Camps,
     And mark’d the ground where proud Apostate Thrones
     Defy’d Jehovah? Here, ‘twixt Host and Host,
     (A narrow but a dreadful Interval)
     Portentous sight!  before the Cloudy van
     Satan with vast and haughty Strides advanc’d,
     Came tow’ring arm’d in Adamant and Gold.
     (An Essay on Translated Verse, vv. 377-384)
Here, Dillon celebrates Milton’s description of the war among angels, through the narration of
Archangel Raphael. We can almost see a mockery on Roscommon’s part, because he sounds very
aware of the erroneous interpretations of his contemporary critics (“Have we forgot...”). We will
return on the war later.
2 John Clarke, Essay Upon Study, 1731, cit. in Milton. The Critical Heritage, ed. by John T.Shawcross, London,
Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1970, pp.261-264.
3 Wentworth Dillon, An Essay on Translated Verse, marginal note from the 6th book of Paradise Lost, 1685, in Milton. 
The Critical Heritage, cit., pp.92-93.
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