How Does Milton Create Sympathy

In Paradise Lost, John Milton wants the reader to sympathize with Satan so that when he betrays Eve, the reader also feels betrayed. He uses the sympathy of Satan to help the reader understand the temptation of Adam and Eve by relating it to human weaknesses, which can be solved by obedience to God. Milton uses language to convince the reader to show compassion to Satan by comparing him to Man, but then redefines him as a guileful tempter, causing the reader to feel repulsed by him. Milton makes the reader sympathize with Satan by depicting Satan as having some of the qualities of a hero. Satan figures prominently throughout the poem as having a perseverant and hard-working nature, as well as courage to challenge God. After being thrown into

Milton wants us to like Satan and embrace him as the main character so that the reader builds a sympathetic relationship with him, so we can understand why Eve falls for his trickery and misuses her free will. Satan talks Eve into "Why should their Lord envy them that? Can it be sin to know, can it be death?" (IV,11.516-8). It also helps the reader understand why Satan and Man did what they did. Satan wanted to free himself from God, so he rebelled. His action exemplifies a failure to use his reason correctly, since he should understand that God created him and they will never be equals. Satan tricked Eve into eating the fruit, showing how she too misused reason and free will to defy Satan. God had "made [Man] just and right, sufficient to have stood though free to fall" (III.98). Man's God-given power of reason could have been enough for them to resist Satan and free themselves from his seduction, yet Eve is weak and fails to use her free will wisely. Adam, too, ate the fruit, but he had more of an opportunity to avoid falling for Satan's trap. When Eve offered him the fruit "[h]e scrupled not to eat against his better knowledge, not deceived, but fondly overcome with female charm" (IX,997-9). Adam, like Eve, does not properly use reason to see through Satan's disguise and, furthermore, he is motivated by his desire to be with Eve; he is spellbound by Eve,

But he is bound up by his flaws -- his pride prevents him from returning to heaven. He asks himself "[i]s there no place left for repentance, none for pardon left? None left but by submission and that word disdain forbids me and my dread of shame among the spirits beneath whom I seduced" (IV.81). Satan has the insight to see where things have gone wrong. He wishes he could return to his former position in heaven, but knows it is too late. Returning to God's side would involve repenting and admitting his guilt, as well as submitting himself to God once again. This is too much for Satan to bear and so he just resigns himself to his own evil nature. He says it is "better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven!", showing just how stubborn he is (I.263). He refuses to return to heaven out of fear of humiliation and embarrassment. The reader can sympathize to some extent with this dilemma faced by Satan, as Man too can be weak and driven by excessive pride. But the lesson taken from this is that Man must not fall victim to the same mistake Satan made; unlike for Satan, it is not too late for Man to make up his relationship with God -- instead Man needs to maintain his relationship with God by always remembering that he must submit to God and repent for his wrongs, and that once Man has done so God will take care of his creation, Man. But if Man were to challenge God, Man could face a