The Many Faces of Satan

Although most of us have not had the opportunity and hopefully will never have the opportunity of directly seeing Satan in person, there are certain familiar images that immediately come to mind when his name is mentioned. The actual particulars of the image that come to mind will invariably be different from person to person; however, there will more or less exist a common thread that links these mosaic images into a unified tapestry of representation. The fact that there exists such a common thread is not surprising since much of what we think and believe is a product of our common cultural upbringing. The existence of this common thread is fundamentally rooted in what we as a society define evil to be. In general, for obvious reasons, evil is commonly despised and as such associated with the sensations of disgust and fear in all their possible permutations. Thus Satan, who is the ultimate personification of evil, is naturally visualized as repulsive by most people and Dante as well. It is this image of repulsiveness that I had in mind when I began searching for artistic renditions Satan. In my search, I found two artworks that gave two contrasting representations of Satan. The first of the artworks is Gustave Dores’ depiction of Dante’s version of Satan and the second is William Blake’s depiction of John Milton’s version of Satan from his poem Paradise Lost.

 As stated before, I expected there to be differing representations of Satan and so I was not too surprised by the difference itself between the Dore/Dante and the Blake/Milton artworks. However, I was surprised by the magnitude of difference that did exist between the two artworks. In fact, the two artworks differ so much in their representation of Satan that it is almost as if they are depicting two completely separate entities. If one deconstructs the artworks, it becomes evident at how each artwork’s individual components work together to create the difference. For instance, in terms of color choice, the Blake/Milton artwork makes use of bright and vibrant colors while the Dore/Dante artwork uses dark and dull colors. This difference in color choice has the effect of making the Satan in Blake/Milton appear more attractive and lively, and has the opposite effect of making the Satan in Dore/Dante appear more unpleasant and depressive. Additionally, the gapping difference between the two Satan is even further enlarged by their contrasting physical appearance. In the Dore/Dante artwork, Satan is physically repulsive with his beastial form and bat-like wings, while in the Blake/Milton artwork he is physically attractive with his fair appearance and looks like a man.

Moreover, due the great difference between the Dore/Dante and Blake/Milton representations of Satan, it seems that the idea of the unified tapestry of representation described earlier should certainly become undone at the seams. However, it does not become undone since the discrepancy in the representations does not result from any fundamental difference. Although I have not properly read Milton’s Paradise Lost, I think it is reasonable to assume that he was in no way seeking to advocate the goodness of evil. Rather, I think what he was attempting to do, as presented by Blake, was to emphasize the complexity of the personified Satan as a literary character.

Overall, I think the difference between the two representations help highlight two possible responses to the concept of Satan.  The most common type of response is the emotive response that relies on the immediate sensations of disgust and fear that we instinctively associate with the evil of Satan. The Dore/Dante artwork is closer to this type of response. Another type of response is the intellective response that is more developed and capable of dealing with the consequences of evil personified despite the apparent contradictions.