The Image of A̅z in Persian Manichean Literature and Milton's Paradise Lost

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of English language and Literature, University of Semnan, Semnan, Iran (Correspondence Author):

2 MA student, English Literature, University of Semnan, Semnan, Iran.

10.22075/jlrs.2025.37686.2655

Abstract

One branch of comparative literature is to study similar themes and images across world literature. While previous studies have mentioned the influence of Persian Manichean literature on John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667), little has been done on the image of Manichean demon A̅z in comparison to Milton's representation of Satan. This is especially significant because Manichean dualism undermines the assumed monism of Milton's epic. Accordingly, this essay shows traces of Manichean dualism in the epic by discussing Satan's language and fractured passions. In the second part of the essay, we focus on the sympathetic representation of Satan as to bring to the fore the emotional readerly engagement of the book. The affective narrative moves of Milton seem to contradict the more explicit theological authorial intentions, i.e. the just logic of the world. Thus, the dualistic passions of a Manichean demon, while meant to alienate us from the text, seem to merge with an affective intensity in the depiction of Satan's character, so much so that he becomes less a demon than a human, and gains a contradictory and hybrid nature. Ultimately, the objective of this comparative reading of Paradise Lost is to explain the incongruity between the author's (Milton) intentions and the narrative effects.

Keywords

References

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Journal Of Linguistic and Rhetorical Studies
Volume 17, Issue 43
In progress
March 2026
Pages 135-152

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