Character of Satan

Satan - Head of the rebellious angels who have just fallen from Heaven. As the poem’s
antagonist, Satan is the originator of sin—the first to be ungrateful for God the Father’s
blessings. He embarks on a mission to Earth that eventually leads to the fall of Adam and Eve,
but also worsens his eternal punishment. His character changes throughout the poem. Satan
often appears to speak rationally and persuasively, but later in the poem we see the
inconsistency and irrationality of his thoughts. He can assume any form, adopting both glorious
and humble shapes.

In depth Analysis
Some readers consider Satan to be the hero, or protagonist, of the story, because he struggles
to overcome his own doubts and weaknesses and accomplishes his goal of corrupting
humankind. This goal, however, is evil, and Adam and Eve are the moral heroes at the end of
the story, as they help to begin humankind’s slow process of redemption and salvation. Satan is
far from being the story’s object of admiration, as most heroes are. Nor does it make sense for
readers to celebrate or emulate him, as they might with a true hero. Yet there are many
compelling qualities to his character that make him intriguing to readers.

One source of Satan’s fascination for us is that he is an extremely complex and subtle character.
It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, for Milton to make perfect, infallible characters such
as God the Father, God the Son, and the angels as interesting to read about as the flawed
characters, such as Satan, Adam, and Eve. Satan, moreover, strikes a grand and majestic figure,
apparently unafraid of being damned eternally, and uncowed by such terrifying figures as Chaos
or Death. Many readers have argued that Milton deliberately makes Satan seem heroic and
appealing early in the poem to draw us into sympathizing with him against our will, so that we
may see how seductive evil is and learn to be more vigilant in resisting its appeal.

Milton devotes much of the poem’s early books to developing Satan’s character. Satan’s
greatest fault is his pride. He casts himself as an innocent victim, overlooked for an important
promotion. But his ability to think so selfishly in Heaven, where all angels are equal and loved
and happy, is surprising. His confidence in thinking that he could ever overthrow God displays
tremendous vanity and pride. When Satan shares his pain and alienation as he reaches Earth in
Book IV, we may feel somewhat sympathetic to him or even identify with him. But Satan
continues to devote himself to evil. Every speech he gives is fraudulent and every story he tells
is a lie. He works diligently to trick his fellow devils in Hell by having Beelzebub present Satan’s
own plan of action.

Satan’s character—or our perception of his character—changes significantly from Book I to his
final appearance in Book X. In Book I he is a strong, imposing figure with great abilities as a
leader and public statesmen, whereas by the poem’s end he slinks back to Hell in serpent form.
Satan’s gradual degradation is dramatized by the sequence of different shapes he assumes. He
begins the poem as a just-fallen angel of enormous stature, looks like a comet or meteor as he
leaves Hell, then disguises himself as a more humble cherub, then as a cormorant, a toad, and
finally a snake. His ability to reason and argue also deteriorates. In Book I, he persuades the
devils to agree to his plan. In Book IV, however, he reasons to himself that the Hell he feels
inside of him is reason to do more evil. When he returns to Earth again, he believes that Earth is
more beautiful than Heaven, and that he may be able to live on Earth after all. Satan, removed
from Heaven long enough to forget its unparalleled grandeur, is completely demented, coming
to believe in his own lies. He is a picture of incessant intellectual activity without the ability to
think morally. Once a powerful angel, he has become blinded to God’s grace, forever unable to
reconcile his past with his eternal punishment.
 Character of Belzebub

Short: Lord of the Flies, one of the Fallen Angels and Satan's second in command. Beelzebub is
the name of one of the Syrian gods mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. He is the first with whom
Satan confers when contemplating rebellion and he is the first Satan sees when they are in hell.
Beelzebub relies totally on Satan for what he thinks and does. Later, Satan uses Beelzebub as a
plant to get hell's council of fallen angels to do what he wants them to do.

Details

Beelzebub's name means "lord of the flies," and this second-in-command to the devil is the
most competent of the swarm of vicious demons that surround Satan in hell. He is a loyal
sycophant who is both swayed by Satan's charismatic and commanding presence and willing to
flatter him, saying,

Leader of those Armies bright,

Which but th' Onmipotent none could have foyld [foiled] . . .

Satan doesn't need Beelzebub's praise to believe he is the greatest of beings, and he is probably
a bit annoyed that Beelzebub's flattery puts him second to God. Nevertheless, Beezlebub does
support Satan's schemes for upsetting God's most cherished plans.

Like a good propagandist, Beezlebub is able to present a somewhat smooth and commanding
front that masks his inner darkness, and he is able to employ his persuasive powers to sway the
other demons to follow Satan's lead.

He is an evil character who willingly participates in spreading misery and thwarting (he thinks)
God's plans, but he also accepts that he is second to Satan, showing he does not have Satan's
overwhelming pride
 Characteristics of Belzebub

Physical Description

With nicknames like “lord of dung” and “god of filth,” it’s a safe guess that Beelzebub is not a
pretty character. Like many demons, he is often described as a smallish creature, withered and
hunched. He may have red or purple skin, ram horns, a forked tongue, and a long tail. But he is
most famous for his wings, which are so powerful that he has sometimes been called “lord of
the heavens” or “lord of the flies.”

Personality

Don’t be fooled by the insulting nicknames and impotent shapes used to describe Beezlebub.
This is one of Hell’s most powerful demons, taking second place only to Satan himself. Some
theologians even claim that Beezlebub has usurped Satan and become “prince of the devils”
and “chief of Hell.” Others claim that Beezlebub and Satan are one and the same.

Special Abilities

Like all demons, Beezlebub has an assortment of magical powers. His specialty seems to be
possession. In the early days, he liked to embody golden idols, making them seem as if they had
powers so that people would worship them. Later, he began possessing human beings. His
name has appeared in numerous famous cases of possession: Anneilse Michel, Louis Gafridi,
and many of the “witches” in the Salem Witch Trial. Opponents of Jesus Christ even accused
him of mingling his powers with Beezlebub!
 Other Fallen Angels
Moloch

The name means 'king' in Hebrew. Moloch also goes by the name of Baal and is best known for
his inordinate fondness for child sacrifice. In Book II he is basically Rambo without the weapons:
'the strongest and the fiercest spirit | That fought in heaven; now fiercer by despair' (II.44). He
characterizes a brawn-not-brains mentality as he advises open war because he cannot stand
being defeated and surviving. The samurai ethic of hara-kiri is perhaps brought to mind.
However, instead of disembowelling himself, Moloch clamours for another battle which he
knows - but won't admit - cannot be won. This would make for good theatre, but Milton
(perhaps regrettably!) chooses to stick to the biblical narrative and so Moloch is overruled.

Belial

Belial is the corrupt but soft-spoken metrosexual, the smooth white-faced talker: 'to vice
industrious, but to nobler deeds | Timorous and slothful, yet he pleased the ear' (II.116). (I am
reminded of a number of modern politicians.) In Hebrew, the word 'Belial' means 'worthless' so
it is apt that his words are pleasing but meaningless. Compare this with Satan's words to Eve,
which are both pleasing and successful in causing action, and allow the forces of Hell to win
round one of the engagement. In Paradise Lost talk is not always only talk, but while Satan is
the Archenemy of God, worthy of fear and able to seduce the innocent Eve, Belial is ineffective
and can only work in the already corrupted fallen world to persuade people to do rather nasty
and immoral things. In Book II, Belial comes across as an expert wielder of Murphy's Law and
even echoes Hamlet's love of talk and aversion of action. In his splendid speech to the demonic
council Belial provides a perfectly useable model for avoiding action, which we lazy people
would do well to study and emulate!

Mammon

Mammon counsels the devils to be happy with what they have got, and to create a home for
themselves in hell:

seek
Our own good from ourselves, and from our own
Live to ourselves. (II.252)

It is somewhat ironic that 'Mammon' means 'greed', as here he is essentially telling the devils to
be content with what they have. This has blasphemous echoes of typical Christian advice to be
satisfied with ones lot and desire no more, the difference being that for Mammon God does not
come into it, while for Christians God is the one who provides, not the self. This is one of the
key differences between the fallen angels and man in the poem: while the good Christian man
accepts his dependence on God, the devils (and some of the ungodly men described in Book XI)
strive to be independent and in so doing, rebel against God who is sovereign over all. Milton
seems to be saying that true greed is to think of oneself as sufficient, and to take or appropriate
selfhood, when that self is created by and rightly belongs to God. In this light Mammon really
does counsel greed by exhorting the devils to live to themselves.