Dante vs Milton

In my British Literature class we are reading Milton's Paradise Lost and it is impossible not to see the comparison between Paradise Lost and Inferno. I think anyone writing about Hell after Dante's Inferno became popular cannot help but be influenced by the view of Hell that Dante portrays. While we intuitively think of Hell as a hot and burning place, Dante portrays it as a frozen wasteland where the most evil sinners are frozen in ice and cannot move; even Satan is immobilized. Milton is clearly influenced by this portrayal of Hell as the demons that explore Hell notice the water that is so cold it performs the function of fire.

Dante describes Satan as being massive, with wings that appear as big as windmills. Satan is so big that the giants are smaller than Satan's arms. This description of Satan is used by Milton when he ascends to speak to the demons and is described as a massive being. In describing the massive size of Satan, Milton also describes his shield as being as big as the moon and his spear as being so big that the biggest mast from a ship would appear like a needle next to it.

All of these comparisons show Dante's influence on Milton's physical description of Hell and Satan. This however is where the similarities end because Dante's Satan has the exact opposite personality of Milton's Satan in every sense of the word. Dante creates a crying Satan that seems pathetic and not able to speak because he is busy chewing the sinners. This Satan is an instrument of God, as he is used to give out punishment to the sinners and does not seem to be the cause for any of the sins committed. By creating an impotent Satan, Dante is suggesting that all the sins that the souls have committed are of their own free will and they have chosen to commit the sins that sent them to Hell.

Milton on the other hand, creates a Satan that is very active, and very admirable as he gives speeches to encourage the demons to rise against God again. Although Milton's Satan also weeps, when he does, it does not make him seem pathetic, but rather sympathetic as he is crying while giving his speech to the demons.  This is a Satan that seems very attractive to the reader as he describes his viewpoint on his fall from Heaven.

Milton also follow's Dante's description of portraying Satan as a mirror to Jesus  as Dante shows him with three different colored heads, resembling the Holy trinity and Jesus' wounds at the crucifixion. Milton's Satan also mirror's Jesus as Satan volunteers himself for the mission to go back out of Hell and investigate God's creations, while Jesus volunteer himself to be crucified for the salvation of mankind.

All of these comparisons and differences between the two Satans show the different viewpoints that each author it trying to portray about the nature of sin. While Dante shows an immobile and pathetic Satan, suggesting that sins originate from free will and the sinners' own decisions, Milton describes a very active Satan that observes God's creations and then plans to manipulate and turn them against God. This suggests that Milton wants to question exactly how much free will humans truly have if God is omnipotent and can see the past and future. Milton believes that if God can see the future and knows that Adan and Eve will go against him, then how much freedom do they truly have in choosing to go against God. Milton and Dante therefore have contradictory views on the nature of sin as the creation of Dante's Satan show that he is not the root of all sins, while Milton's Satan is active and therefore is the root of all sins and lead to the corruption of human soul.