Sympathy for the Devil? & the Byronic Hero

Was Milton's Satan, the rebel against God, the true hero of Paradise Lost? William Blake and many others thought so. In the Romantic era, poets inaugurated a new interest in Milton's radical vision. Political reformer William Godwin remarked that "Satan bore his torments with fortitude." Milton inspired a group of artists including William Blake and Percy B. Shelley, who were drawn to the Satanic figure of revolutionary power that arises from Milton's civic and political imagination:

Percy B. Shelley, poetry fragment, 'I dreamed that Milton’s spirit rose and took' (1821)

People who, well, feel an attraction for Milton’s devilish anti-hero are really feeling the same attraction/repulsion we feel with, for example, the dashing young vampire in the Twilight series. This hero – who is both good and bad --- is an anti-hero or Byronic hero. The Byronic hero is attributed to, you guessed it, Lord Byron.

Characteristics of the Byronic Hero

A character does not have to possess all of the traits below to be considered a Byronic hero, nor is every character with some of these traits necessarily a Byronic hero.

This list, adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byronic_hero, gives an overview of the character traits and attitudes typically associated with the Byronic hero.

Check the traits Milton’s Satan possesses from the list below and provide a specific example as evidence (a direct quote and line #) for each characteristic you choose. You probably will NOT apply every characteristic, and some may “cross over”:

 A distaste for social institutions and norms

 An exile, an outcast, or an outlaw

 Arrogant

 Cunning and ability to adapt

 Cynical

 “Dark” attributes not normally associated with a hero

 Disrespectful of rank and privilege

 Emotionally conflicted, bipolar tendencies, or moodiness

 High level of intelligence and perception

 Mysterious, magnetic, and charismatic

 Power of seduction and attraction

 Self-critical and introspective

 Self-destructive behavior

 Social and sexual dominance

 Sophisticated and well-educated

 Struggles with integrity

 Troubled past