become a hell
As the Dante allusion in the previous paragraph suggests, hell is a mental
state. Victor's words make a direct allusion to one of Milton's most
famous passages in Paradise Lost, where Satan comes face to face
with the responsibility for his own damnation:
Hadst thou the same free will and power to stand?
Thou hadst: whom hast thou then or what to accuse,
But Heaven's free love dealt equally to all?
Be then his love accursed, since love or hate,
To me alike, it deals eternal woe.
Nay, cursed be thou; since against his thy will
Chose freely what it now so justly rues.
Me miserable! which way shall I fly
Infinite wrath, and infinite despair?
Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell.. . . . .nbsp;. .
-- IV.66-75
