Satan Overlooking Paradise by Gustave Doré

Satan Overlooking Paradise by Gustave Doré for John Milton’s epic 1667 poem Paradise Lost. Illustrated in 1866.

This is an illustration by Gustave Doré for John Milton’s epic 1667 poem Paradise Lost called Satan Overlooking Paradise. The poem deals with the biblical narrative of original sin, and the first half of the story focuses on Satan and his fall from heaven. In this part of the story, Satan is standing on a mountaintop, overlooking the earthly paradise and considering his plan to corrupt Adam and Eve by making them eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Milton is using verticality to enhance the drama of the moment, and by placing Satan in such a high place it allows him to examine his motivations more clearly.

Doré does an amazing job conveying the scene in his illustration. Satan is shown as a small figure, almost overwhelmed by the vastness of the space around him. This suggests that he’s just a single figure in a much larger narrative, and there’s a wider context to his actions. Also, by placing him at the edge of a large cliff, it gives him a commanding presence over the landscape, as if to highlight the gravity of his actions and the profound effect they will have on the story. During this moment in the story, Satan is conflicted by his plan to corrupt humanity. He’s not quite sure he should go through with it, and this apprehension humanizes the character, but also proves his evil nature. It’s telling that Milton chose a mountaintop for this crucial moment in the arc of the character, and the verticality of the scene gives it a weight that wouldn’t be present if he was at ground level.

This illustration reminds me of Caspar David Friedrich’s painting Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, which also shows a solitary figure on a mountaintop, gazing over the landscape below. It’s a commanding position to be in, and anyone who’s stood in a place like that will know the feeling. There’s an ethereal ownership of the surrounding landscape, which is the perfect setting for Satan to work through his inner conflict.

Check out more examples of verticality in literature.