Explanation:
‘What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less than he,
Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence.
Here we may reign secure and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.
(Lines 256-263)

Answer: These lines are taken from ‘Paradise Lost’ Book I, the most notable epic in English literature. In these lines, Satan announces his decision to reign securely in hell without any divine interference.

In the lines preceding immediately, Satan tells Beelzebub that Hell and Heaven are states of the mind. They are independent of time and circumstances. A mind can make Hell of Heaven and Heaven of Hell. In the lines under reference, Satan points out that it is immaterial for him whether he is in Hell or Heaven. What is important to him is his own stable character and his ambition to be his own ruler. He repeats his recurrent argument that God is superior to him only in His thunder power and not in reason. While referring to his new home where he has been thrown by God along with other rebel angels, he says that although it is infernal, it is preferable. It is free from the envy of God. He and his companions will not be disturbed as denizens of Hell. There is no apprehension that God will drive them out of Hell, as He has done from Heaven. Hell is thus a secure place for their unchallenged rule. Satan adds the ambition to rule is worth entertaining. Sovereignty, though in Hell, is better than submission to God in Heaven. It is better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven.

Satan’s argument assumes as axiomatic that in any world where there is any good to be envied, subjects will envy their sovereign. The only exception is Hell, for there is no good to be had, and so there is none to envy for evil. Hence, Satan concludes that the infernal monarchy has stability which the celestial lacks.