Why do rebels and revolutionaries love “Paradise Lost”?
John Milton’s epic poem has galvanised rabble-rousers for centuries
It is hard not to like Satan. He is Western culture’s original rebel, the bad boy who dared to defy the authority of God. He also has the best lines. “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav’n,” Satan declares in “Paradise Lost”, an epic poem by John Milton. God, by contrast, says boring things about goodness. “Heav’n’s awful monarch” is, in fact, a bit of a tyrant. Satan and his band of rebels will not submit to “forced hallelujahs”.
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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Sympathy for the devil”
From the January 4th 2025 edition
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