Paradise Lost Book IV: In Which Satan's Imposter Syndrome Intensifies

Artificer of fraud; and was the first
That practisd falsehood under saintly shew,
Deep malice to conceale, couch't with revenge:
Yet not anough had practisd to deceive (121-124)


The word "Artificer" sticks out to me because of it rhymes with "Lucifer" and I feel that Milton was clever enough to make that connection purposefully here. There seems to be an unspoken slight here to God. According to Christianity, God is the creator of all. Giving the claim of creating fraud takes away a tiny bit of the power from the all creator, God. It is subversive because realistically most would not be so offended to see their "God" removed from the responsibility of something negative, however, from a jealous all-powerful ruler point of view, it might not go over so well. But the other thing Book IV of Paradise Lost does is create a lot of self doubt within Satan. This vulnerability is incredibly enduring. Milton manipulates his audience to relate to Satan, the quintessential evil of all history practically. In context of his disdain for the Crown, Milton creates a space to question the divinity of the monarch and their right to rule. He balances the right amount of power with self doubt for readers to feel bad for Satan, and this room for empathy teacher the readers to look for other opportunities to reconsider the positions in which they were dictated.

P.S.
I could not help but make another Umbrella Academy inspired title.