Previous
Personification
Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Book 1
Explanation and Analysis—Satan's Rhetoric:
In Book 1, Satan's speech to the other expelled angels in Hell can be seen as both a satire of militaristic rhetoric and an example of effective logos:
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less than he
Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; th’ Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n.
The facetiousness of Satan's argument is immediately clear to the reader: the angels are literally surrounded by flames, and have essentially been locked into Hell. Thus, making a "Heav'n of Hell" seems virtually impossible. The angels are also not "free," as Satan declares, given that their fate has been sealed, and their punishment decided by God: Hell has become a prison for them.
By making Satan's statements so obviously duplicitous, Milton is satirizing the empty—yet elevated and ostentatious—rhetoric that military leaders, politicians, and monarchs employ to incite their followers. Language, Milton argues, is a powerful tool that can be exploited to manipulate others.
But Satan's cunning rhetoric is also an example of logos, since it is slyly persuasive: his argument is thoroughly reasoned, with clear premises and support. The angels can "reign secure" in Hell because God is unlikely to drive them out of Hell, having already confined them there; God's absence will allow them to organize themselves without interference. Moreover, Satan reminds the angels that the "mind is its own place"—that they still have sovereignty over their own minds, though they may be doomed to Hell (which is why they can understand Satan's argument as well). With this reframing, the angels' fall becomes part of Satan's own "choice," rather than a misfortune that has befallen him and his followers.
Related Themes:
