What everyone remembers from Milton's Paradise Lost is Satan. In the first two books of this twelve-part epic, Satan steals the show, completely overwhelming the imagination. Indeed, he is undoubtedly the most convincing figure in the entire work; an intriguing and even sympathetic character. This statement raises a troubling conundrum for the reader, because Milton's Satan does not appear to be particularly biblical. How can we consider this convincing characterization of Satan and arrive at a sort of moral judgment on his nature? Milton chooses Satan as the protagonist of his work because he wishes to challenge society's understanding of him. He transforms the ultimate evil into a tragic heroic figure, more convincing than God, Adam, Eve and the son of God. By upending society's preconceived notions of human nature, Milton shows that challenging authority is an intrinsic and necessary facet of our humanity. The traditional image of Satan is that of a destroyer, a tempter and a malevolent being in every way, possessing no feelings of sympathy. qualities. Yet in Milton's epic, Satan is not simply indomitable. He is also empathetic and sensitive, and lacks neither imagination nor resourcefulness. Milton works with the tension created by his character to challenge the reader's long-held beliefs regarding the angel of the abyss. In Areopagitica, Milton had already laid the foundations for this idea: “The good and evil that we know in the realm of this world grow together almost inseparably; and the knowledge of good is so involved and interwoven with the knowledge of evil…” (). In contrast, a character who would be considered the ultimate good stands distant and angry: God. Indeed, the reader comes to resent God for his self...... middle of paper ...... his Protestantism. In creating the poem Paradise Lost, Milton composed a poem that should be read in the same way as the Bible. Reading Milton's epic is not simply a call to reason, to understanding. You actually have to make your way through it. Connect this to the italicized words below. Satan's virtues are not lost. What seems to happen is that in Paradise Lost they are recreated, they survive, alive and well in a version of Satan who knows himself. A self-aware personality is able and willing to challenge authority and not take things in writing. The entire poem tells what only takes a few verses of Genesis to articulate, leading Milton to create a complex, sometimes insecure individual, allowing the reader to identify with his inner struggles. Even the most reprehensible characters can display positive characteristics of human nature.