Critical Quotes

• Anne Paolucci: “Dante's Satan arouses disgust; Milton's, at moments, arouses something close to sympathy.”
• Shelley, Defense of Poetry: “Nothing can exceed the energy and magnificence of the character of Satan as expressed in Paradise Lost. It is a mistake to suppose that he could ever have been intended for the popular personification of evil.”
• John Dennis (18th cent critic):  "The Passions of Milton's Devils have enough of Humanity in them to make them delightful"
• with “intellectual temptresses” like Dalia, “[a] critic needs to be on his guard.” (Thomas Kranidas)