The Hero’s Journey: The Miltonian Satan of the British Epic in Opposition to the Kingian Roland of the American Fictional West

This article offers a comparative analysis of the hero’s journey paradigm through the figures of Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost and Stephen King’s Roland in The Dark Tower series. Drawing on myth criticism and intertextual analysis, the study examines how these two figures embody contrasting config...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Montero Gilete, Raúl, Galván Rodríguez, María Belén
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:addi________::1eb6587811e708aeba4c8de8d5149f7c
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/79613
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:hero’s journey
epic literature
John Milton
Stephen King
myth criticism
American West
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spelling The Hero’s Journey: The Miltonian Satan of the British Epic in Opposition to the Kingian Roland of the American Fictional WestMontero Gilete, RaúlGalván Rodríguez, María Belénhero’s journeyepic literatureJohn MiltonStephen Kingmyth criticismAmerican WestThis article offers a comparative analysis of the hero’s journey paradigm through the figures of Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost and Stephen King’s Roland in The Dark Tower series. Drawing on myth criticism and intertextual analysis, the study examines how these two figures embody contrasting configurations of the epic hero within British and American literary traditions. Through close textual reading, the article argues that Milton’s Satan represents a subversive reinterpretation of the classical epic hero, characterised by rebellion, rhetorical power, and moral ambiguity, whereas King’s Roland reconfigures the heroic model within the framework of the American West, incorporating elements of individualism, decline, and existential quest. By establishing a transhistorical and transnational dialogue, the study highlights the transformation of the epic paradigm across literary periods and cultural contexts. The article contributes to literary and cultural studies by demonstrating how the hero’s journey can function as a flexible interpretive framework, capable of accommodating divergent ideological and narrative structures. In doing so, it foregrounds the persistence and adaptation of mythic archetypes in contemporary literature, situating both texts within broader debates in comparative literature and myth criticism.This essay has been completed under the auspices of the research group REWEST, funded by the Basque Government (IT-1026-16), the project New Wests funded by the Spanish Government (PGC2018-094659-B-C21), and the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)Unisa Press202620262020info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10810/79613reponame:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigacióninstname:Universidad del País VascoIngléshttps://unisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/jls/article/view/11467info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/(c) 2020 JLS/TLW. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.oai:dnet:addi________::1eb6587811e708aeba4c8de8d5149f7c2026-06-18T09:23:17Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The Hero’s Journey: The Miltonian Satan of the British Epic in Opposition to the Kingian Roland of the American Fictional West
title The Hero’s Journey: The Miltonian Satan of the British Epic in Opposition to the Kingian Roland of the American Fictional West
spellingShingle The Hero’s Journey: The Miltonian Satan of the British Epic in Opposition to the Kingian Roland of the American Fictional West
Montero Gilete, Raúl
hero’s journey
epic literature
John Milton
Stephen King
myth criticism
American West
title_short The Hero’s Journey: The Miltonian Satan of the British Epic in Opposition to the Kingian Roland of the American Fictional West
title_full The Hero’s Journey: The Miltonian Satan of the British Epic in Opposition to the Kingian Roland of the American Fictional West
title_fullStr The Hero’s Journey: The Miltonian Satan of the British Epic in Opposition to the Kingian Roland of the American Fictional West
title_full_unstemmed The Hero’s Journey: The Miltonian Satan of the British Epic in Opposition to the Kingian Roland of the American Fictional West
title_sort The Hero’s Journey: The Miltonian Satan of the British Epic in Opposition to the Kingian Roland of the American Fictional West
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Montero Gilete, Raúl
Galván Rodríguez, María Belén
author Montero Gilete, Raúl
author_facet Montero Gilete, Raúl
Galván Rodríguez, María Belén
author_role author
author2 Galván Rodríguez, María Belén
author2_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv hero’s journey
epic literature
John Milton
Stephen King
myth criticism
American West
topic hero’s journey
epic literature
John Milton
Stephen King
myth criticism
American West
description This article offers a comparative analysis of the hero’s journey paradigm through the figures of Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost and Stephen King’s Roland in The Dark Tower series. Drawing on myth criticism and intertextual analysis, the study examines how these two figures embody contrasting configurations of the epic hero within British and American literary traditions. Through close textual reading, the article argues that Milton’s Satan represents a subversive reinterpretation of the classical epic hero, characterised by rebellion, rhetorical power, and moral ambiguity, whereas King’s Roland reconfigures the heroic model within the framework of the American West, incorporating elements of individualism, decline, and existential quest. By establishing a transhistorical and transnational dialogue, the study highlights the transformation of the epic paradigm across literary periods and cultural contexts. The article contributes to literary and cultural studies by demonstrating how the hero’s journey can function as a flexible interpretive framework, capable of accommodating divergent ideological and narrative structures. In doing so, it foregrounds the persistence and adaptation of mythic archetypes in contemporary literature, situating both texts within broader debates in comparative literature and myth criticism.
publishDate 2020
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2020
2026
2026
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10810/79613
url http://hdl.handle.net/10810/79613
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://unisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/jls/article/view/11467
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Unisa Press
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Unisa Press
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
instname:Universidad del País Vasco
instname_str Universidad del País Vasco
reponame_str Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
collection Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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