Notions of the diabolic in Milton's epic poetry

Abstract

The first aim, or concern, of the present dissertation is to show that Milton's presentation of the Diabolic in Paradise Lost is multi-faceted, and that it is related to the portrayal of Satan and the devils in Paradise Regained. The second aim is to show that beneath the different surfaces of Satan and his followers throughout the course of Paradise Lost and, to a lesser extent, even Paradise Regained, there is an underlying similarity. As it shall be seen that similarity is quitessentially moral, yet it is arrived at through literary means. In other words, the stance taken in this dissertation promotes the view that, all in all, Milton has succeeded in justifying God's way to men, or at least that he hasn't made Satan the genuine hero of Paradise Lost.