Milton's Satan and Dante's Lucifer

Comparative Analysis

The two stories, Inferno by Dante and Paradise Lost by Milton, were written about the biblical hell and its keeper: Satan.

Both of these authors had different views about Satan, because Dante gives up a picture of the society of his time, Milton talks mainly of the original sin.

In Paradise Lost, Milton wrote that Satan used to be an angel of God and he is described as "The Lost Archangel". Satan believed that he was equal to the Lord and he wanted to be greater than him. For this, God banished him to hell. Milton's physical description of Satan is interesting. Since he used to be an angel, he still had wings, his eyes were blazed and he had a scaly skin. Satan was also an immense creature, usually a giant monster. It is noted that Satan had only one head, but Milton's depiction of him was this basic structure.

The contrasting view of Satan was written in Dante's Inferno. Satan was a very ugly demon: he had three heads, which were attached to his body; wings that resembled those of bats; Dante makes him crying tears and blood. Inside each of the three mouths were the souls of people. Dante makes Satan out to be intellectually inferior by presenting him as being unable to speak, because he is chewing on the sinners, and unable to move because it is frozen in an ice cube. This was the Satan that Dante envisioned.

Where Dante serves to illustrate Satan as a "dumb" being, Milton gives him a personality that attracts the audience and forces them to sympathize, to a certain degree, with him. He also makes him out to be an intellectual who has a purpose and seemingly "just" objective.

Where Dante portrays Satan as an animalistic being with a soul/being that is something less than that of intelligent, Milton sees him as a character worthy of both respect and credibility in regards to intellectual competency.

Satan is a complicated hero in Paradise Lost. He is complicated because we recognize that he is clearly a villain and yet we are sympathetic to his cause. Milton's Satan portrays God as being an unfair tyrant, one who deserved to be rebelled against. Now, having been banished to Hell, Satan is wondering what his purpose is.

Cisilino, Ferrazzo