PAG 199 ES 1

Hell: mournful gloom – freedom

Heaven: celestial light – happy fields

PAG 199 ES 2

• Arrogant
• Nostalgic
• Fearless
• Defiant
• Proud
• Independent
• Ambitious
• Determined
• Strong-willed

PAG 199 ES 3

1. Divine – king/sovereign – hellish/satanic – deep – holder – unconcerned/unaware – palace/residence
2. They make the tone of Satan’s speech elevated, rhetorical and magnificent

PAG 199 ES 4

1. Run-on-lines
2. They add grandeur and solemnity to the text
3. Alliteration

PAG 199 ES 5

1. Proud
2. His lost
3. Hell
4. Heaven
5. Power
6. Reason
7. Proud
8. Mind
9. Place/body
10. Benefits
11. Musical
12. Solemn
13. Latin
14. Long
15. Meaning
16. Elevated

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: Better to reign in hell, then serve in heaven

Paradise Lost is a literary epic poem written in 1667 by John Milton, an English writer, poet, philosopher, essayist, public official and theologian. 

The present extract of Paradise Lost is about Satan’s rebellion against God. The divine drama is summoned up in the figure of Satan, who is described as a lost Arch Angel in the second verse. Satan is the archangel who forced the first man and the first woman (Adam and Eve) to disobey the will of God taking the apple of knowledge. Satan is called lost because his arbitrary action led him to the loss of something that belonged to him, that is heaven.

The first judgment of Satan is composed of a rhetorical question which refers to Satan’s feelings at the time of the expulsion from paradise. In the first sentence, the use of the first plural person (we) underlines the presence of a listener. The discussion continues with a short description of God, from Satan’s point of view. He is seen as the sovereign of the celestial light. God’s description also introduces a paragon between hell and paradise: the first one is connoted as an infernal world, mournful gloom and a free place, while the second one is described as celestial light and happy fields.

Despite this, God is positively connoted by Satan, who calls him the only one who can recognize right from wrong and the upper among his equals. Therefore, Lucifer realizes and admits his inferiority to God.

From line 11, Satan describes himself referring only to moral characteristics and no physical appearance. According to him, he is free: a mind subject only to his control and not to the time or place one is in.

Satan is the hero of Paradise Lost, because he shows all the characteristics that Milton admired: courage, pride, oratorical power, self-confidence, ambition and determination. He feels equal to God in reason and inferior only in power. When God banishes him from Heaven, he wants to take a revenge against him, therefore he decides to corrupt his incredible creation: man.

Lucifer is very ambitious: his pride makes him believe that it “is better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven” (line 22). However, he admits the inferiority of infernal world. Indeed, in the last part of the speech, he continues the negative connotations of hell described as “oblivious pool - unhappy Mansion” and opposes it to a positive connotation addressed to God, defined as “greater – almighty”. In addition, at the end, Lucifer’s will to subvert the natural order emerges.

Even if Satan is the central figure in the passage, the presence of God is very important: Satan never names him directly, but God is always in his thoughts.

As far as language is concerned, the tone of the passage is direct, forceful, but also musical and solemn, thanks to the presence of latin words (such as celestial, sovran, infernal, profound, possessor and mansion) and lots of alliterations (for example the letter S in the first two lines). Moreover, the Satan’s speech has the characteristics of the perfect oratory speech and Milton’s use of language and long verse paragraphs add meaning and elevated the quality of the poem.