Satan and 50 shades of Doré

Paradise Lost by John Milton. I love to collect book and it is one of my proudest collection. I didn't know it was a classic when I bought it. During my first encounter with the book, it was the illustrations that caught my fascination. And then the epic poem. 

But first the poem. The story follows Satan, from the first rebellion against the God to the attempt to deceive Eve and later on Adam to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge that eventually leads to their banishment from the Garden of Eden. I don't know much about the composition of a poem but what I can tell is it successfully brings out the sense of empathy to Satan. I remember clearly when I first read it when I was 17, I was estranged by my admiration to Satan because I knew I shouldn't. You admire someone, most of time is because you see some quality within him that you wish to possess. Satan definitely is determined because after countless defeats, he still keeps on chasing after his goal, although the goal is an dishonest one. Reading through the verses, you almost want Satan to succeed.

The defeat of Lucifer (Satan) and his army.

If John Milton is conveying nuance of evil through words, then Gustave Doré is doing the same but through illustrations. No better candidate to paint the illustrations for the poem than him. Paradise Lost has been illustrated by multiple artists, but in my opinion Doré's interpretation fits impeccably. Unlike William Blake's hallucinative depiction, Doré's illustrations are arguably more realistic and more grandiose. Romanticism at its core, his illustrations are done through wood engraving. Without colour, the use of light and shades is executed masterfully. Just like film noir, this eventually furthers the already pervasive feeling of fatalism of the poem. Funny that Gustave's last name is "Doré" which means golden in French but his most popular works are all in black and white.

The version I have is Chinese translated but I have also read the original English version. I would say the original one is much better but I also know I can't be too demanding from a translated version because human language is hard and translation is even harder. Anyway Paradise Lost is definitely a classic and Doré's illustrated version is the best.