Perelandra/Paradise Lost: Satan

So, I could not get away from thinking about our lovely class time spent talking about Lewis’ Satan (Unman) in Perelandra and Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost. We talked about the fact that Lewis, although he seemingly defended Milton’s Satan to other critics, he did not actually agree with Milton’s humanistic portrayal of Satan. Lewis believed that Milton’s Satan demonstrated too much of a rational intelligence. So, we get the opposite of this rational intelligence in Perelandra, and see Satan as a very animal-like being whose rationality can only extend so far. It’s as if the Unman sometimes hits a roadblock in the brain, or something, and cannot get around it. For instance, during the night when he continuously says “Ransom…Ransom…Ransom…” almost like a computer glitch; he has no better way to battle at the moment. Actually, I would say Lewis’ Satan demonstrates qualities of a person with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Just saying…

However, I think it is important to notice one major factor about the two Satan’s; Milton’s Satan has just fallen and Lewis’ Satan is several thousand years from his fall. Think about, if Adam was the sum of all human wisdom and knowledge and we are his descendants affected by his fall, how much more so would there be a difference between Satan as he was initially after his fall and thousands of years later? Because really, humanity has only regressed since Adam and Eve; we have not progressed. If Lewis had been portraying Satan not long after he had fallen from Heaven he might would have seemed more like Milton’s Satan. However, because sin causes deterioration or regression, it only makes sense that Lewis’ Satan acts so irrationally, animalistic. So, to argue that Lewis’ Satan or Milton’s Satan is more realistic really has to be considered within the context of Satan’s fall from heaven.