spatch said:
Off topic, but that satan quote in the most extreme "be yourself" quote i have ever seen.
Atleast thats what I think it means.
You could read it that way. Me though, I always took it as a statement of extreme individualism, which is slightly different. It's denial of all and any authority over you other than your own conscience. Also that the only power anyone has over you is what you allow them, so long as you have free will.
This all goes way back to discussions we used to have in my lit classes about tragic heroes. Basically a tragic hero has to have one fault that completely fucks everything up, but is understandable and forgivable. Hamlet is a good example. If he had just killed Claudius when his father's ghost told him about his murder, it would have avoided a lot of death and heartbreak. But, it is kind of understandable that he wouldn't want to take a ghost's word for things. Later when an opportunity comes to kill Claudius his desire for revenge makes him hesitate because Claudius is praying for forgiveness and Hamlet doesn't want to send him to heaven for murder.
Satan is a more complex example because he isn't human and his fault was the ultimate fault, rebellion against God. If you believe in God and think outright rebellion against Him is unforgivable, Satan can't be a hero. But if you don't believe in God, or if you do but think no one, even Satan, is beyond fgorgiveness, then he can be a hero.
I'm more of a mind of not believing in the Judeo-Christian God, so I can see him as a hero without a problem. For me though it's more along the lines of not submitting to anyone on a mere I say so, no matter what they may be capable of doing to you if you don't follow their lead.
I remember reading in the book More Anguished English someone described Milton's works this way: "Milton got married and wrote Paradise Lost. Then his wife died and he wrote Paradise Regained." Not really relevant, but it's one of my favorite quotes.