Milton’s Satan and His Spatially-Sensuous Discovery of Authentic Subjectivity ... towards Absurdity

Abstract

In view of the fact that “Milton himself is often at pains to depict his Satan as […] ‘big with absurdity’ delineating in that manner Foe’s genuine personality, the article focuses its attention on occurrences during which the evil genius’s individuality seizes an opportunity to be progressively shaped, achieving its entirety in the lair of suffering, accurately called by the Great Puritan the “seat of desolation. The objective of the paper is to study events, places and other characters that exert a powerful influence upon the disposition of Satan whose path inexorably leads to the vicious circle of absurdity and emergence of consciousness – Camus acknowledges that to say that “life is absurd, the conscience must be alive” and also “in order to exist, man must rebel.” Furthermore, it is required to illustrate how Milton’s Fiend’s growing subjectivity and concoction of fervent emotions compel him to undertake daring and insubordinate action against God. Hence, Miltonian evil genius is to be studied with regard to his sensuous reactions to incidents stigmatizing his physical as well as mental journey, treated as a quest for self, from the Empyrean (the location of quotidian) through Paradise (the place of sheer sensuousness and sensuality) to Hell (the locus of absurdity and topsy-turvyness).