Framed by an understanding that the very concept of what defines the human is often influenced by Renaissance and early modern texts, this book establishes the beginning of the literary development of the satanic form into a humanized form in the seventeenth century. This development is centered on characters and poetry of four seventeenth-century writers: the Satan character in John Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, the Tempter in John Bunyan's Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners and Diabolus in Bunyan's The Holy War, the poetry of John Wilmot, earl of Rochester, and Dorimant in George Etherege's Man of Mode. The initial understanding of this development is through a sequential reading of Milton and Bunyan which examines the Satan character as an archetype-in-the-making, building upon each to work so that the character metamorphoses from a groveling serpent and fallen archangel to a humanized form embodying the human impulses necessary to commit evil. Rosenfeld then argues that this development continues in Restoration literature, showing that both Rochester and Etherege build upon their literary predecessors to develop the satanic figure towards greater humanity. Ultimately she demonstrates that these writers, taken collectively, have imbued Satan with the characteristics that define the human. This book includes as an epilogue a discussion of Samson in Milton's Samson Agonistes as a later seventeenth-century avatar of the humanized satanic form, providing an example for understanding a stock literary character in the light of early modern texts.

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,7, University of Bonn, language: English, abstract: John Milton wrote his famous epic poem "Paradise Lost" at the end of Renaissance. It was published in a first version in 1667, consisting of ten books and in the final version in 1674, consisting of twelve books. Up until today this masterpiece is considered as one of the most famous writings of English literature. The question of this paper is if the character of Satan can be depicted as an heroic figure and in how far Satan can be described as epic hero. John Milton is forcing the reader of Paradise Lost to consider the possibility that Satan may actually be a hero, or at least a character that might be analysed in a more complex way. The character of Satan uses this tension and provokes the reader. During the 13th up to the 16th century the devil was discussed very frequently among people of all classes. Nevertheless Satan or the devil is afflicted with mostly negative thoughts as he is the antagonist of God.

Seventeenth-Century English Literature associates evolving seventeenth-century English perspectives of maternal support to the ascent of the cutting edge country, particularly in the vicinity of 1603 and 1675. Maternal sustain increases new noticeable quality in the early current social creative ability at the exact minute when England experiences a noteworthy change in perspective-from the customary, dynastic body politic, composed by natural bonds, to the post-dynastic, present day country, included representative and full of feeling relations. The book likewise exhibits that moving early present day points of view on Judeo-Christian relations profoundly educate the period's interlocking reassessments of maternal support and the country, particularly on account of Milton. Encircled by an understanding that the very idea of what characterizes the human is regularly impacted by Renaissance and early present day messages, this book sets up the start of the scholarly improvement of the evil frame into an adapted shape in the seventeenth century. This advancement is fixated on characters and verse of four seventeenth-century journalists: the Satan character in John Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, the Tempter in John Bunyan's Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners and Diabolus in Bunyan's The Holy War, the verse of John Wilmot, earl of Rochester, and Dorimant in George Etherege's Man of Mode.