John Milton's use of the serpent to represent the evil of Satan captures the depth and detail that is implied in the Bible pertaining to the Beast that is Satan. (Rev 12:3-18, 13: 1-8)

Milton first introduced the reader to the character Satan, the representative of all evil, and his allegiance of fallen angels that aided in his revolt against God (Milton 35). Only later did Milton introduce the reader to all powerful God, leader and creator of all mankind . This introduction of Satan first led the reader to believe acts of sin were good, just like Eve felt in the Garden of Eden when she was enticed by Satan, as a serpent to eat the fruit off of the Tree of Knowledge (Milton 255). The Bible does not share this view of "good" sin. " Though I say to the virtuous man that he shall surely live, if he then presumes on his virtue and does wrong, none of his virtuous deeds shall be remembered; because of the wrong he has done, he shall die"(Ezekiel 33:12)

The later introduction of The Almighty had the readers change their feelings towards sin, as the ways of God were introduced to them and these ways were shown to be the way to feel and believe. This levy of good vs. evil carried on through

Satan became jealous in Heaven of God's son and formed an allegiance of angels to battle against God, only for God to cast them out of Heaven into Hell (Milton 35). This did not bother Satan at first since he became the leader in Hell rather than a servant in Heaven. Satan believed that it was, "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven" (I-l. 263). Satan also believes that no matter where he goes, hell will proceed him. "Satan only praises the importance of sovereignty. Heaven and Hell in both mirror eachother as part of Satan's solipsistic world" (BW, 280). Once again, it is good against evil through the eyes of Milton. He would have rather been the leader of evil than a follower of good.

The second key character introduced by Milton is The Son, whose powers and abilities are used to contradict the sin and evil throughout the poem. By his powers, God declared his son to be the king of the angels in Heaven (John). Finally, The Son announced death to man, bringing about feelings of guilt and shame (273-274). With this announcement, the gates opened to allow the characters Sin and Death into Earth, never to leave, only to prey on man (275-276), just as the serpent preyed on the vulnerability of Eve. Sin and death would not have been born if it were not for the evil of Satan.

We today, are able to choose sin with a path of redemption by Jesus, or take the easy road to Hell. Throughout John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost, the reader was able to see a contrast between what is evil and what is good, most of which Milton has utilized the Bible to portray. Milton first introduced the reader to sin and evil in the lead character Satan who was able to take on the form of many things, the most prominent being that of a serpent. Milton showed the reader Satan's ways of deceit, jealousy, and destruction through various dreadful acts, as the Beast did in Revelation.

Since these ideas were those of Satan, he quickly adjourned the meeting, and the plans to accomplish his idea were begun (74-75).

out the poem with the interaction of Satan and his fallen angels with God and his son in Heaven. " The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it" (Rev. 12:9) One common representation of sin and evil came from the lead character in the battle against God, Satan. His name means "enemy of God." He was a former high angel from Heaven named Lucifer, meaning, "light bearer" (John). However, in Paradise Lost, Milton uses light to represent God, not Satan, who is described with much darkness. Satan seems to be only interested in worshipping himself. "Satan's iconic worship of his own mind becomes a misapprehension of the puritan ideal of reason in the service of God"(British Writers, 280). You are only supposed to worship one being, and that is God, it seems that Satan has committed the first sin, before it is officially born by Satan himself.

Much of Satan's rel

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Approximate Word count = 2019
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)