Subjectivity, Free Will, and the Reinterpretation of Divine Authority: A Frazerian Analysis of Satan’s Discourse in Paradise Lost

Abstract

This paper examines Satan’s rebellion in John Milton’s Paradise Lost as an act of myth-making that distorts theological ideas of liberty, creation, fate, and the Fall. Using Frazer’s conception of myth as subjective meaning-making, the study argues that Satan’s speeches attempt to reframe his rebellion as autonomy, servitude as tyranny, and damnation as freedom. Yet these myths are consistently dismantled through the narrator’s authority, the assertions of other beings, and Satan’s own moments of doubt and misery. The analysis employs qualitative textual study, using close readings of key passages supported by Frazer’s framework. The argument develops across interrelated themes. First, Satan redefines liberty as disobedience, but the text asserts that true freedom lies in rational obedience. Second, Adam grounds obligation in divine creation, while Satan invents self-creation myths. Finally, Satan’s boast that “the mind is its own place” epitomizes his myth-making, yet his despair reveals these myths collapse under reality.