Satan's response to Abdiel begins with an unreserved critique of Abdiel's argument and unusual theology. Satan's mocking tone indicates the he speaks more on the audience's behalf than on his own. Note how Satan has effectively seized control of the audience's understanding of the world:

"So spake the fervent angel [Abdiel], but his zeal
None seconded, as out of season judged,
Or singular and rash, whereat rejoiced
Th' Apostate, and more haughty thus replied." (V.849-852)

Satan then presents a new argument for his position by asking all those present if they can remember their own creation, which none can: "We know no time when we were not as now" (V.859). Satan then asserts that this lack of previous memory means that all of the inhabitants of Heaven were self-generated, meaning that God created neither Heaven nor the angels nor anything else (V.860-869). Reaching this conclusion based on nothing more than lacking a memory of what came before is not logically sound, but Satan's speech does not need to stick closely to logic at this point. He has already won the debate with Abdiel and won over his audience. His heaping self-generation and personal power on his audience is simply Satan stroking his audience to tighten their loyalties to him. Finally, as if to rub salt in Abdiel's wounds, Satan declares that he and his followers will successfully lay siege to God's throne, and he commands Abdiel to fly to God to warn him of the coming attack (V.865-871). It seems that any individual involved in this scene would recognize the futility of revolting against an omnipotent God, but Satan's performance has successfully seduced his audience. They have entered into the reality of Satan's drama and now fail to see that they are about to engage in an effort doomed to fail horribly.

The chronologically second major dramatic performance by Satan, although it is the first to appear in the ordering of the text, is Satan's speech and actions during the council in Hell. Here the fallen angels (I will henceforth refer to them as devils) try to decide what to do now that they have been defeated in battle with God's forces and have been cast from Heaven. Comprising the first half of Book II, the proceedings of the council are roughly as follows: Satan sits on a throne before the gathered devils, reasserts his position as their leader, implores his minions not to give up hope, and invites anyone with a plan of action to speak before the council. The first devil to speak is Moloch, who advocates a second military assault on Heaven. Then Belial speaks, encouraging the devils to wait, but not to repent, and to resign themselves to a sort of uncomfortable acceptance of their current position. Mammon then puts forth his idea that the devils should abandon hope of defeating their God, and that they should focus their efforts on the making of their own empire. Many in the crowd approve of Mammon's idea, and they applaud him accordingly. Then Be‘lzebub-Satan's second in command-states his position that the fallen should accept their military defeat because they know now that they cannot conquer Heaven through combat. Instead, the devils should seek their revenge upon God by focusing their efforts on God's newest and most prized creation: humankind. After Be‘lzebub's speech, the narrator reveals that this plan is not Be‘lzebub's, but Satan's, and that Be‘lzebub told this plan to the council at Satan's behest. This plan is most pleasing to the crowd, and the devils unanimously approve of it. Be‘lzebub continues to detail "his" plan by presenting the council with the task of choosing who to send to the newly created world first. Silence falls over the crowd, as none are willing to undertake this dangerous task. At this critical moment, Satan suddenly and boldly reenters the attention of the council. Satan says that he would be unworthy of his role as leader if he did not take this task upon himself, which he does, and he commands the devils to remain in Hell while he journeys to the new world alone. Satan stands up to begin his journey before any can answer him, and all the devils fall to their knees in worship of Satan.

Satan speaks little during this council, but he manipulates the crowd into following him once again by controlling what the audience sees and knows, and through carefully timed performances of his own. Satan's handling of the new hierarchy in Hell, with him at its head, is worth noting. He claims the legitimacy of his position not by simply stating that it is his, but by also referring to the devil's willful granting of authority to him, authority which has been further supported by Satan's own merit.

"Me though just right, and the fixed laws of heav'n
Did first create your leader, next, free choice,
With what besides, in counsel or in fight,
Hath been achieved of merit, yet this loss
Thus far at least recovered, hath much more
Established in a safe unenvied throne
Yielded with full consent." (II.18-24)

But Satan is no fool. He knows the devils now before him followed him and suffered painful defeat because of his ambitions. He is well aware of the fact that there will likely be, at the very least, some grumbling if Satan attempts to assert his authority as though nothing happened. The devils were cast from Heaven, from their places next to God, into their eternal prison Hell, a place cut off from God and his glory. This is a distressing predicament to the devils because their position on the hierarchy has worsened. Satan wisely removes himself from the audience's primary focus by opening the floor up to ideas of what to do. Hell's hierarchy is thus inverted. The devils who have fallen and who have just reason to complain are, for the moment, atop the hierarchy because they are free to stand before the crowd and to give their ideas for how the group should proceed. Satan encourages his audience to identify with him by seeing him as a concerned leader who genuinely cares what his constituency feels and thinks.

The problem addressed by the various devils who speak before the council is the determination of who is to blame for what has happened, for the identity of the scapegoat strongly influences how the group will move to resolve the situation. Various opinions are expressed: Moloch clearly blames God in his call to arms for a second assault on Heaven, but the crowd has little response to Moloch's speech because they have already been soundly defeated once, and the devils seem to realize that they will never defeat the forces of Heaven in combat. Belial's stoic position does not place blame on anyone. The devils are in this situation, like it or not, and they must resign themselves to it without pursuing either revenge or forgiveness. If Belial blames anyone, it is, implicitly, the devils themselves for getting themselves into this situation, and placing blame on the freshly disenfranchised devils will only alienate them. The role of scene is important in determining why Belial's argument fails. Belial's position is noble, to be sure, but the devil's have just been cast into Hell, and anyone who tells this assembly of devils to peacefully accept their new home should not expect to find a receptive audience. The nature of Moloch's and Belial's failures reveal why the devils demonstrate excitement about Mammon's plan. Mammon blames God for what has happened, but he realizes that attacking God is foolish. He advocates that the devils forget God and concern themselves with their own matters. Here is a proposition that the devils can live with: blame clearly placed on God, no fears of being routed again, no despairing about their fallen state, and enjoyment of the world they create for themselves. But as attractive as Mammon's proposal is, there are problems with it. Hell, no matter how the devils act in it or what they try to accomplish within it, is still a prison, and the devils will never truly escape the influence of an omnipotent God.

Finally, Be‘lzebub states his position, and Satan works his alluring performance on the devil assembly through his closest and most loyal follower. The plan to hurt God by corruption of humanity places blame on God to the degree that revenge is the only just action, but it also removes the danger of a direct military attack and presents the possibility of transcending the hierarchy through this revenge. Their positions relative to God may not change, but they will surely derive some satisfaction from their action. Satan acts behind the scenes; he is the playwright of a powerful and persuading performance by Be‘lzebub He carefully places and times everything that the audience learns about his position. The open forum allows the devils to see the inadequacies of other positions before introducing his own, completely new idea. This is the first anyone learns of the newly created world, and the opportunity associated with it increases the appeal of Satan's plan. Satan's directing Be‘lzebub to speak as though the plan were his own allows for the continued inversion of the hierarchy in Hell. This plan comes from a source below Satan, or so the audience is lead to believe. While Be‘lzebub is but one step below Satan, he is not Satan himself. When the crowd approves of this plan "with full assent" (II.388), Be‘lzebub freezes the crowd with the difficult question of who to send on this dangerous mission. Silence all around and tension at its highest, Satan realizes that the audience has entered into his point of view and that he must now reassert himself.

Satan presents himself as a sort of mythic hero who successfully battles impossible odds for the good of his people:

"These [the gates of Hell] passed, if any pass, the void profound
Of unessential night receives him next
Wide gaping, and with utter loss of being
Threatens him, plunged in that abortive gulf.
If thence he scape into whatever world,
Or unknown region, what remains him less
Than unknown dangers and as hard escape?
But I should ill become this throne, O Peers,
And this imperial sovranty, adorned
With splendor, armed with power, if aught proposed
And judged of public moment, in the shape
Of difficulty or danger could deter
Me from attempting." (II.438-450)

This is good old-fashioned grandstanding on the part of Satan. He assumes the role of a great leader, a selfless king, a brave representative of the oppressed. Defeated and fallen, the devils have been given a glimpse of hope, and they need a hero. Satan gladly fills this position because it assures him power, authority, and glory. He declares that the mission is so dangerous that he must go alone, then rises from his throne to begin his journey before anyone can respond to his speech. Stunned and excited, the devils unquestioningly accept Satan's charismatic renewal of the hellish hierarchy, and they react to Satan they way they are accustomed to reacting to figures who sit high above them and issue unquestioned commands: they fall to their knees and worship the figure atop the throne, Satan. Through careful manipulation of what the audience sees and knows, Satan is able to use the scene of the council to his advantage. He transforms Hell from a place of unparalleled despair into a place of hope and opportunity through his organization of the council and instruction of Be‘lzebub. He then cinches both this new worldview and his authority by playing the role of epic hero. Satan baits and tempts and performs, even when the audience has no idea that he is doing so.

If you are interested in reading more of this fine thesis - please contact SMACK! via email or contact the University of Iowa's Honors English Department for a copy.