Fakers Gonna Fake // Emma Landry

     Early on, I was unsure of Milton's true motivations for portraying Satan in an almost sympathetic manner. However, in Book 4, the confrontation in the garden between Satan and God's angels continues to peel back the layers of his hypocrisy, making it difficult to feel bad for Milton's Satan at this point. It becomes evident that Milton hopes to expose readers to the lies of Satan, hopefully helping save them from his deceptive clutches in the process. Gabriel points out that Satan is not living up to the image of the strong leader that he has tried to convince everyone he is. Though he appears a coward, Satan turns the words back on Gabriel by asking him "Who would not, finding way, break loose from Hell / Though thither doomed?" (4.888-889). He avoids addressing the conflicting roles he is playing, likely because the situation makes him question his own identity and place in the universe. Additionally, while Satan has projected an appearance of courage and confidence before this moment, Gabriel makes a fair point by calling out his abandonment of his followers. It seems quite cowardly that a supposedly bold leader would run away from pain, leaving his people behind. Satan does this under the guise of keeping others from danger. However, in this exchange, Satan exposes his weakness, further supporting that he is far from the invincible figure he believes himself to be. Gabriel also identifies another major area in which Satan has hypocritical tendencies. Without mincing words, he announces, "And thou, sly hypocrite, who now wouldst seem / patron of liberty...Wherefore but in hope / To dispossess Him and thyself reign?" (4.957-958, 960-961). Gabriel is correct: Satan's monarchical aspirations are totally incompatible with the rebellion against authority that he has preached until this point. Ultimately, he does not want freedom for all. He wants the freedom to rule. It is incredibly ironic that, as much as he hates God, he actively aspires to become a godlike figure himself. To top it all off, he will lead people down a path of enslavement to sin, the antithesis of the liberty for which he appeared to be an advocate. Satan time and again proves himself to be a hypocrite, one who will say anything in order to manipulate the situation as he wishes.


I commented on Abigale Bell's and Ian Blair's posts.

Comments

  1. Emma Kate PattersonSeptember 14, 2021 at 1:41 AM

    I like that you pointed out that he is avoiding addressing the conflicting roles he plays because of him questioning his own identity. I feel that in modern society we still do this. We avoid problems in an effort to avoid our own personal inner issues.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lily CaswellSeptember 14, 2021 at 9:29 AM

    I agree with your statement that Satan doesn’t want freedom but instead wants freedom to rule. And wouldn’t it make sense for Satan to be the biggest hypocrite of all?

    ReplyDelete

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