Satan’s speech

Satan has just arrived in Hell and he is speaking to his army of angels who have been expelled from Heaven after the rebellion against God.

Satan is watching around and asks himself if this is place he belongs now. He welcomes his new home and says farewell to Heaven.

He announces that the new possessor has arrived and that he will never change his mind. He thinks that mind is the most important element and that can transform heaven into hell and hell into heaven.

He declares that in Hell they are finally free and sure that God won’t expel them again.

He knows that he will be able to reign and that reigning in Hell is better than serving in Heaven.

In this extract some rhetorical figures are used: “mournful gloom” which is a synaesthesia and “happy fields”, “celestial light” which are metaphors.

The extract hints Satan’s personality. He shows his self-confidence, his pride and the dignity with which he has faced the defeat.

He is not desperate but on the contrary he’s considering the positive aspects of this fall into Hell where he can finally reign and be free. He feels equal to God and a like a military leader gives courage to his soldiers.

He is the hero of paradise lost and also embodies puritan ideas of independence