The Power of Our Inner Righteousness: Satan Concedes to Heaven’s Might

Illustrious ideas and illustrations: The imagery of Gustav Doré

“Nor more; but fled/Murmuring, and with him fled the shades of night” (IV. 1014, 1015), (detail) 1866, by Gustav Doré for John Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” Engraving. (Public Domain).

Evil things are frightening to many of us unless we are experiencing them from a distance. Sometimes, it can be difficult to have the confidence to turn toward and confront evil. How might we truly identify evil and confront it with confidence?

Deceptive Satan Inspires Discord

In the previous installment in this series, we followed the two angels Ithuriel and Zephron as they searched for the foreign spirit in the Garden of Eden. The two angels search Eden high and low until they find a toad by Eve’s ear. This toad was attempting to put impure ideas into Eve’s mind as she slept:

In search of whom they sought: him there they found Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve; Assaying by his devilish art to reach The organs of her Fancy, and with them forge Illusions as he list, phantasms and dreams, Or if, inspiring venom, he might taint Th’ animal spirits that from pure blood arise Like gentle breaths from rivers pure, thence raise At least distempered, discontinued thoughts, Vain hopes, vain aims, inordinate desires Blown up with high conceits engend’ring pride. (Book IV, Lines 798–809)

Milton’s passage has certain undertones, for it’s interesting that Satan initially attempts to tempt Eve while she sleeps. When we sleep, we’re not necessarily diligent against or even aware of those things that might affront us; we’re less able to protect ourselves against evil when we lack awareness. Are we not more likely to be tempted when we let our guard down?

And what does Satan use to tempt Eve in this state? He seeks to inspire within her emotional disorder, pride, and animalistic desires that separate her from God. The word “inspire” is an interesting choice of word, for when we feel inspired, we feel from within that our intentions are our own. Satan, in his manipulative craftiness, is inspiring God’s creation to move away from God and toward evil.

The Power of Righteousness Reveals the Truth of Evil

Seeing the toad and recognizing its manipulative intentions, the angel Ithuriel lightly touches the toad with his spear, and his touch changes Satan back into his true form:

Him thus intent Ithuriel with his spear Touched lightly; for no falsehood can endure Touch of celestial temper, but returns Of force to its own likeness ... With sudden blaze diffused, inflames the air: So started up in his own shape the Fiend. Back stepped those two fair angels half amazed So sudden to behold the grisly King. (Book IV, Lines 810–813, 818–821)

That which is of the heavens, that is, that which is innately righteous, exposes that which is evil with little effort. Ithuriel, an angel representative of righteousness, only has to lightly touch upon evil for evil to reveal its true nature.

This reveals something about our own divine nature: If our unadulterated souls are divine in nature, then we too—deep within—are representatives of righteousness. We need merely touch upon evil, that is, point it out, to expose its true nature, for wickedness is no match for the righteous.

How Evil Deforms

Confronted by the appearance of Satan, the angels ask who he is, and this question angers Satan. Satan suggests that the two angels ought to know the king of the rebel angels who led an onslaught against God. The angels, however, inform Satan that his acceptance of evil has served to change not only his nature, as we saw in an earlier installment in this series, but also his appearance. The evil that fills Satan has made him thoroughly ugly:

Think not, revolted Spirit, thy shape the same, Or undiminished brightness, to be known As when thou stood’st in Heav’n upright and pure; That glory then, when thou no more wast good, Departed from thee, and thou resembles now Thy sin and place of doom obscure and foul ... abashed the Devil stood, And felt how awful goodness is, and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely, saw, and pined His loss ... (Book IV, Lines 835–840, 846–849)

Accepting evil as his truth, Satan is thoroughly changed from the angel he once was. In going against God’s law, he becomes the opposite of the characteristics of heaven: He is ugly, deformed, prideful, and angry. Despite being ugly within and without, something within him still wishes for heaven. This further suggests that he, even as the epitome of evil, cannot fully separate himself from the truths that the beauty and virtue of heavenly things represent.

Heaven Weighs Righteousness and Evil

The archangel Gabriel arrives and asks Satan why he has left hell to come and violate human beings while they sleep. Satan responds that hell is too painful for him, so he has come to Earth to find peace. He didn’t come to harm humans.

Gabriel suggests that Satan has lost his divine wisdom, too, since he doesn’t realize that the anger he has against God is the true source of his pain. But then Gabriel asks, if hell is so bad, why are you the only one to leave?

Satan replies that Gabriel knows he didn’t flee first, for Gabriel saw him lead the charge against heaven. Instead, he says he has searched to find a better place for his followers and that this act will bring him the fame and praise that he was denied in heaven.

Gabriel calls him a liar and says that his story keeps changing; first, he says he leaves hell because of his own pain, but then he says he leaves hell to find a better place for his followers. At one point, he sang the most praise of God, only to become the one to lead a rebellion against God; he has no idea who he is or for what he stands. Gabriel demands that Satan go back to hell, or he will drag him back there.

Satan isn’t happy with this statement at all and threatens Gabriel in return. A fight almost breaks out, but God reveals golden scales that weigh the strength of Satan versus the strength of heaven, and heaven’s strength greatly outweighs Satan’s.

Gabriel tells Satan to look at God’s scales:

Satan, I know thy strength, and thou know’st mine, Neither our own but giv’n; what folly then To boast what arms can do, since thine no more Than Heav’n permits, nor mine, though doubled now To trample thee as mire: for proof look up, And read thy lot in yon celestial sign Where thou art weighed, and shown how light, how weak, If thou resist. The Fiend looked up and knew His mounted scale aloft: nor more, but fled Murmuring, and with him fled the shades of night. (Book IV, Lines 1006–1015)

Satan looks up and realizes that despite the fact that he follows the ways of hell, his strength is still determined by the ways of heaven, and he concedes.

“Nor more; but fled/Murmuring, and with him fled the shades of night.” (Book IV, Lines 1014–1015), 1866, by Gustav Doré for John Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” Engraving. Public Domain

Doré Contrasts Good and Evil 

Doré depicts the moment that Satan retreats from the group of angels. The contrast of his body against the background and the size of his body makes him the focal point of the composition: Doré wants us to see him retreat.

Doré also makes a clear contrast between the nature of Satan and heaven. The angels and heaven are depicted with great light. The angels are even depicted as if they’re illuminated by the light of heaven, but Satan isn’t illuminated at all. Instead, he’s shrouded in shadow.

It’s also interesting that Satan is made to descend from the top of the hill. This is another moment where Satan is made to descend, the first being when he was cast out from heaven for rebelling against God. It’s almost as if the laws of heaven are enforcing a certain degree of balance: The more he wants to be at the top, the more he’s forced to descend.

If we truly are divine within, that is, if the law of heaven is part of our makeup, then is it true that we, too, can make evil reveal its true nature by just pointing it out? Can we show the beauty and strength of heaven by merely contrasting it with the ugliness of evil? Is there something in our nature that wants to align with the laws of heaven no matter what our state of mind may be?

Gustav Doré was a prolific illustrator of the 19th century. He created images for some of the greatest classical literature of the Western world, including “The Bible,” “Paradise Lost,” and “The Divine Comedy.” In this series, we will take a deep dive into the thoughts that inspired Doré and the imagery those thoughts provoked. For the first article in the series, visit “Illustrious Ideas and Illustrations: The Imagery of Gustav Doré.”