For the past three hundred years, both the Satanists and the anti-Satanists have given diverse views on the character of Milton's Satan. From Dryden to Empson and from Johnson to C.S.Lewis and Stanley Fish, we see that both parties have interpreted and stressed the case in their favour. But the dispute continues ... As we read Paradise Lost we realise that in the beginning, Milton certainly presents Satan as the heroic, powerful prince of Hell, but this image is not constant throughout the epic poem. We observe that the character of Satan sees a steady downfall, from the prince of Hell in (Book I)he slowly and steadily degrade and degenerate, into a serpent in Book IX. Milton clearly presents this degeneration not only at a physical level but also at the mental level. Many critics have state that Milton wrote Paradise Lost to "Justify ways of God to man" (Book I) but critics like William Blake believe that Milton "was a true poet and of the devil's party without knowing it."
             Milton's Satan is not depicted with any bodily deformities and thus he is not the conventional Devil with horns or humps. Instead Milton stresses on the mental deformities of Satan's mind, he himself says "Which way I fly is hell; myself am hell", thus we view Satan as a character enveloped in pride, self-interest, selfishness and egotism, that is all the vices that ultimately lead ones downfall. It is Pride that arouses in him the desire to reach higher; "thought one step higher/ Would set me highest," He was well aware that he could not take God's place, for God is Omnipotent and it was He who had created him. Milton thus underlines that Pride is one of the Worst vices that one can possess. Milton refrains from depicting Satan as all bad and without any consciousness, through Satan's powerful soliloquies we see the internal conflict that surrounds Satan. Milton's Satan is not devoid of ...