# Satan — Poetry character guide

> Satan in Poetry by George MacDonald.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Man, The Asthmatic Man to the Satan That Binds Him Satan

**First appearance:** 0003-abu-midjan

## Snapshot

The adversary who binds and is bound — a spider-meshed jailer of souls who finds himself strangely drawn into the care of a child.

## Who they are

Satan appears here less as Miltonic rebel than as a restless, garrulous keeper of doors that are not doors, dragging the sin-entangled through passages into a 'deedless world.' Yet his monologue swerves toward tenderness: Baby, 'like seraph gone astray,' must be shown the homeward way, and he takes it upon himself to guard her wonder and teach her the rough lesson that seeming is not being. He matters because he complicates the poem's moral geography — the binder of men becomes, however grudgingly, a servant of the child's slow unfolding into a gracious lady.

## Relationships

### [Mary Magdalene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters/mary_magdalene)

_rivalry_

Mary Magdalene and Satan are locked in a spiritual battle over redemption and temptation.

### [Jesus Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters/jesus_christ)

_rivalry_

Jesus Christ and Satan are eternal adversaries, representing good versus evil.

### [God](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters/god)

_rivalry_

God and Satan are cosmic enemies locked in a struggle for souls and dominion.

### [Jesus Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters/jesus_christ)

_rivalry_

Jesus Christ and Satan are eternal adversaries, representing good versus evil.

### [God](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters/god)

_rivalry_

God and Satan are cosmic enemies locked in a struggle for souls and dominion.

### [Mary Magdalene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters/mary_magdalene)

_rivalry_

Mary Magdalene and Satan are locked in a spiritual battle over redemption and temptation.

### [Jesus Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters/jesus_christ)

_rivalry_

Jesus Christ and Satan are eternal adversaries, representing good versus evil.

### [God](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters/god)

_rivalry_

God and Satan are cosmic enemies locked in a struggle for souls and dominion.

### [Mary Magdalene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters/mary_magdalene)

_rivalry_

Mary Magdalene and Satan are locked in a spiritual battle over redemption and temptation.

## In the story

### [VI: The Woman Whom Satan Had Bound](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/vi-the-woman-whom-satan-had-bound)

Referenced in the title as the one who bound the woman for eighteen years.

### [XV: Mary](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/xv-mary)

Implied through Judas, who criticizes the anointing as wasteful, representing a contrasting worldly perspective.

### [June](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/june)

Mentioned as the source of mocking demons that drive the soul toward God.

### [A Broken Prayer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/a-broken-prayer)

Implied through voices of temptation that mock the speaker with accusations of worthlessness.

### [Fighting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/fighting)

The dark, evil spirit that contends for mastery in the temple, emerging from the crypt.

### [The Asthmatic Man to the Satan That Binds Him](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/the-asthmatic-man-to-the-satan-that-binds-him)

The tormentor who binds the asthmatic man, burrowing in his breast and choking him.

### [Zacchaeus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/zacchaeus)

The Satan of rebuke who speaks beside the door, criticizing Jesus for associating with a sinner.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters/satan
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters