Paradise Lost

Based on your experience of this book, does Satan seem more republican or democratic?

Through the course of Book V, Satan's ideals seem democratic, his ideals enlightened, and his doubts about God's authority seem based in republican values, which are praised by American Christians. Using the word "republic" to mean "a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizensentitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly orindirectly by them", and the word "democracy" to mean "government by the people; a form of government in which thesupreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by themor by their elected agents under a free electoral system", which does Satan seemed more inclined to?

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 The very fact that Satan wants out of God's dominion speaks to the fact that he wants autonomy and self-determination. In other words, Satan hates the status quo of government or God's control. He wants to be an individual who can, if he works really hard, create his own world and hence competition against God. The very Republican ideal of going at it on his own and going "rogue" against an omnipotent power sounds like a very Republican ideal.