The literary imagination has long been fascinated with the figures of Satan, demons, and fallen angels. Three landmark works approach this fascination from wildly different angles: Glen Duncan’s irreverent I, Lucifer (2002), John Milton’s epic Paradise Lost (1667), and C.S. Lewis’s satirical The Screwtape Letters (1942). Each engages with questions of morality, free will, and the nature of evil, but in unique voices, styles, and theological contexts.

A defining difference among the three works lies in narrative perspective. Paradise Lost tells the cosmic story of the Fall from an omniscient, epic lens, though it occasionally centers on Satan to explore his psychological complexity. Milton gives readers a poetic, tragic view of rebellion: Satan is charismatic and heroic in a certain sense, but ultimately flawed and doomed. The narrative commands awe and reflection rather than intimacy.

By contrast I, Lucifer delivers a confessional first-person perspective. Lucifer narrates his own life, resurrected into modern-day London, and recounts his experiences with biting humor and human-like cynicism. Duncan’s Lucifer is witty, crude, and self-aware. He’s a charming antihero who critiques humanity with satire that feels very contemporary.

C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters occupies a middle ground: it’s first-person, but from the perspective of Screwtape, a senior demon instructing his nephew on tempting humans. The letters are epistolary, clever, and moralistic, using satire to illuminate human weaknesses and Christian doctrine. Unlike Milton’s epic or Duncan’s brash Lucifer, Lewis keeps readers amused while provoking reflection on morality.

All three texts wrestle with the nature of evil and free will, but they approach it differently. Paradise Lost is theological and grand: evil exists as rebellion against God, and free will is a divine gift whose misuse leads to cosmic consequences. Satan’s pride and ambition catalyze the Fall, while Adam and Eve’s choices underscore humanity’s moral responsibility.

In I, Lucifer, evil is treated with irreverent irony. Lucifer is not scheming to corrupt humans on a cosmic scale, he observes, manipulates, and comments on human foibles. Free will is playful and ironic; humans are absurd, often predictable, and their suffering is as comical as it is tragic. The novel questions morality through humor, suggesting that divine and infernal plans alike are ultimately petty when faced with human chaos.

The Screwtape Letters bridges these approaches. Lewis presents evil as both subtle and systematic: temptation exploits human weakness in small, strategic ways. Free will remains central, but the narrative emphasizes spiritual awareness and moral vigilance rather than cosmic tragedy. Here, humanity is neither absurdly comic nor epic; it is a site of moral struggle, where seemingly minor choices have eternal significance.

The tonal differences among the three works are striking. Milton’s verse is formal, elevated, and grandiose. Befitting an epic poem that seeks to explore the universe itself. Duncan’s prose is colloquial, sardonic, and irreverent, mixing humor with existential despair. Lewis’s letters are witty, controlled, and satirical, with a tone that is both instructive and humorous, relying on irony and clever rhetoric rather than dramatic flourish.

Milton’s work emphasizes the consequences of pride, disobedience, and rebellion against divine order. I, Lucifer revels in moral ambiguity, exploring the absurdity and contradictions of human and divine behavior. The Screwtape Letters combines moral instruction with satire, emphasizing vigilance, humility, and spiritual growth.

In essence, Paradise Lost inspires awe and contemplation of cosmic morality, I, Lucifer entertains while critiquing the absurdity of morality and human behavior, and The Screwtape Letters instructs through irony and imaginative inversion of the moral universe.

Despite their differences, these works are united in their fascination with the fallen, the forbidden, and the morally complex. Milton’s Satan is tragic and epic, Duncan’s Lucifer is modern and sardonic, and Lewis’s Screwtape is cunning and instructional. Together, they showcase the richness of literature that examines evil not just as a concept, but as a lens through which to explore human nature, free will, and morality.

For readers interested in theology, philosophy, satire, or just a fresh perspective on one of literature’s most infamous characters, these three works offer complementary and contrasting journeys through the mind of the devil, and, ultimately, the human soul.