To Serve in Heaven or to Rule in Hell?

           In Paradise Lost, Milton portrays Lucifer not as an inherently evil being, but as a character who can be justified for his actions. Milton portrays Lucifer as an ambitious archangel who may be misguided in his actions, yet his actions are justifiable and relatable to the struggles of the everyday people.

            Lucifer decides that he would rather rule in hell and be evil than serve God and live in paradise; however, Milton provides justification for Lucifer’s actions: “if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure…” (Milton 256-261). Milton illustrates in this quote that Lucifer simply wanted to be free from God. He does not wish to be less than the he who thunder made great, clearly a reference to God. He also wishes to be secure and safe, a desire that most people can relate to. In fact, many of the revolutions in history were the cause of people not feeling secure under a ruler; they wanted to be free from servitude, for it is the common desire of all people to have freedom. Lucifer is in the same exact position. He did not necessarily want to reside in hell, but for him “To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell” (Milton 262). To Lucifer, his ambition of ruling and being free from God is worth having to live in hell. Thus, Lucifer is portrayed as an ambitious character who is not completely evil because his ambition is justified for his desire for freedom.

            Milton’s portrayal of Lucifer has certainly influenced the work of other writers. The most obvious example in literature would be his influence over the work of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. In the novel, the monster uses Paradise Lost in order to teach himself how to read, but what the monster finds is that his situation is very similar to Lucifer’s. Both the monster and Lucifer were abandoned by their creators, and are forced to live in exile. Milton’s Paradise Lost has created a character that is not entirely evil, but one that is certainly justified and relatable.

Works Cited

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Ed. Scott Elledge. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1975.