The Absence of Humility and Gratitude: Milton’s Satan in Torment

Illustrious ideas and illustrations: The imagery of Gustav Doré

“Me miserable! which way shall I fly / Infinite wrath, and infinite despair?” (IV. 73, 74), 1866, by Gustav Doré for John Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” Engraving. (Public Domain). 

Throughout our series “Illustrious ideas and illustrations: The imagery of Gustav Doré,” we’ve had the opportunity to take a deep look at how the poet John Milton saw Satan. Satan, the father of Sin and Death, has been shown as synonymous with pride, vanity, deception, and revenge. 

There’s still more to understand about Milton’s conception of Satan. Continuing from where we left off in the last article, Satan has just deceived the archangel Uriel in order to find out the location of Earth so he can attack God’s new creation: human beings. 

Satan’s Inner Torment

After arriving on Earth and coming close to Eden, Satan is overwhelmed by fear and doubt. He confronts the truth about his relationship with God:

“horror and doubt distract His troubled thoughts, and from the bottom stir The Hell within him, for within him Hell He brings, and round about him, nor from Hell One step no more than from himself can fly By change of place: now conscience wakes despair That slumbered, wakes the bitter memory Of what he was, what is, and what must be Worse …” (Book IV, Lines 18–26)

First, Milton tells us that hell is following Satan no matter where Satan goes. Despite passing his children, Sin and Death, to exit hell, Satan is still tormented by its presence. Hell is a state of being for Satan; it was not only the environment he was cast into but is also the characteristic of his conscience.

In his deep, inner torment, Satan is made to confront the truth of his circumstance: He is no longer the glorious being he was in heaven. Arguably, this reveals to us what Milton believes is the source of personal torment and depression: separation from God.

In a moment of torturous clarity, Satan admits his fault with God:

“O sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams That bring remembrance from what state I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere; Till pride and worse ambition threw me down Warring in Heav’n against Heav’n’s matchless King: Ah wherefore! he deserved no such return From me, whom he created what I was In that bright eminence, and with his good Upbraided none; nor was his service hard. What could be less than to afford him praise, The easiest recompense, and pay him thanks, How due! Yet all his good proved ill in me, And wrought but malice; lifted up so high I’sdained subjection, and thought one step higher Would set me highest, and in a moment quit The debt immense of endless gratitude, So burdensome, still paying, still to owe …” (Book IV, Lines 37–53) 

Satan was cast from heaven because he wanted to be great like God, who is matchless in greatness, and now he hates the beams of the sun because they remind him of how good he had it in heaven. He says that it was glorious in heaven and even admits that God does not deserve his uncontrollable hatred. What does God deserve? Praise and gratitude. Satan says that praise and gratitude are the least he should have given to God.

This, however, is Satan’s issue: He doesn’t want to feel compelled to praise God. God is so great that he deserves endless praise. Satan does not want to do it, for he thinks that it is like a debt that he must always owe, and the debtor is always subject to the lender. To him, being required to endlessly praise God is like being a slave to God, and he thinks of himself too highly to be subject to any being, even God. 

Satan Refuses Repentance

Despite all of this, however, Satan still considers repenting and its outcome:

“O then at last relent: is there no place Left for repentance, none for pardon left? None left but by submission; and that word Disdain forbids me …

But say I could repent and could obtain By act of grace my former state; how soon Would height recall high thoughts … ease would recant Vows made in pain, as violent and void ...

This knows my punisher; therefore as far From granting he, as I from begging peace …” (Book IV, Lines 79–82, 93–97, 103–104)

The separation from God and the torment of hell cause Satan to consider repentance. Yet he thinks repentance is equivalent to submission, and he refuses to submit to God. He admits that even if he were to repent, it would only be because of the pain he now feels and not because he authentically believes in the value of repentance. Once the pain leaves, so will his desire to repent. 

Satan thinks that God knows his repentance would be inauthentic and would, therefore, not grant him mercy because of his insincerity. He suggests that the chance of God granting him mercy for insincere repentance is the same as his begging for peace, which his pride will not let him do.

Thus, Satan doubles down on the path of evil. He won’t submit to the path of repenting to God, but he will submit to the characteristics of hell and that which defies God:

“Me miserable! Which way shall I fly Infinite wrath, and infinite despair? Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell …”

All hope excluded thus ... So farewell hope, and with hope farewell fear, Farewell remorse: all good to me is lost; Evil be thou my good ...” (Book IV, Lines 73–75, 105, 108–110)

Here, we can see that it is not that Satan will not submit to something, for he submits to the path of evil. It is not the unwillingness to submit that makes up Satan’s nature but his hatred of God. His nature prefers submitting to the path in which pride causes his pain instead of the path of everlasting peace that comes from praising and thanking God. 

Milton’s Satan in Torment

“Me miserable! which way shall I fly/ Infinite wrath, and infinite despair?” (IV. 73, 74), 1866, by Gustav Doré for John Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” Engraving. (Public Domain).

Doré depicted Satan in a pose of angst. This is one of the first times that Satan is not depicted in a position of power by Doré. Satan leans against the craggy rock behind him and grasps a handful of hair as he struggles through his internal dialogue. The rough landscape almost seems as if it is floating in a dark sea of emptiness, which supplements the emotionally charged image.

Satan is suffering because he has willingly separated himself from God, his creator. Despite the magnificence of God’s goodness and the majesty of heaven, Satan chose to confront God because he doesn’t want to show humility and gratitude.

Are there correlations between Milton’s insight and the current rising rates of depression? Does our separation from God’s goodness cause us to live our lives as victims and find more reason to complain than to be humble and grateful?

Yet in Doré’s image, light from somewhere still illuminates Satan. Is this the light of God? Is God giving even Satan a chance to repent, leave his torment behind, and return to heaven? 

Does our separation from God suggest that we are submitting to a path other than one bound by humility and gratitude toward the divine? Has our pride led us here? Is there still hope, a light that shines on us and the potential glory of our civilization?

Gustav Doré was a prolific illustrator of the 19th century. He created images for some of the greatest classical literature of the Western world, including “The Bible,” “Paradise Lost,” and “The Divine Comedy.” In this series, we will take a deep dive into the thoughts that inspired Doré and the imagery those thoughts provoked. For the first article in the series, visit “Illustrious Ideas and Illustrations: The Imagery of Gustav Doré.”