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This book reads Milton’s Paradise Lost as a poem that seeks to educate its readers by narrating the education of its main characters. Many of Milton’s characters enter the action in late adolescence, newly independent and eager to test themselves, to discover who they are and their place in the world. The poem charts their progress into moral adulthood. Taking as its premise that attention to the moral development of the poem’s main characters will open the poem to most undergraduate readers, this book explores both the pedagogical activity within Paradise Lost and the pedagogical activity that the poem encourages.
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Milton’s Paradise Lost This page intentionally left blank Milton’s Paradise Lost Moral Education Margaret Olofson Thickstun MILTON’S PARADISE LOST © Margaret Olofson Thickstun, 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13: 978–1–4039–7757–1 ISBN-10: 1–4039–7757–7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Thickstun, Margaret Olofson, 1956– Milton’s Paradise lost : moral education / Margaret Olofson Thickstun. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 1–4039–7757–7 (alk. paper) 1. Milton, John, 1608–1674. Paradise lost—Study and teaching. 2. Milton, John, 1608–1674—Ethics. 3. Education in literature. 4. Ethics in literature. 5. Moral education—United States. 6. Education—Philosophy. 7. Education—Psychological aspects. I. Title PR3562.T47 2007 821⬘.4—dc22 2006050991 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: May 2007 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. For John and Russ— “Love calls us to the things of this world.” This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Teaching Paradise Lost in the Twenty-First Century ix xiii 1 1 God as Father in Paradise Lost 21 2 Satan, Interpretive Choices, and the Danger of Fixed Stories 33 3 53 Abdiel, Peer Pressure, and the Rebel Angels 4 Good Angels, Gratitude, and Growing in Communion 71 5 The Education of the Son 87 6 Raphael and the Challenge of Evangelical Education 105 7 119 Adam as Parent 8 Eve, Identity, and Growing in Relationship 137 Conclusion 157 Notes 163 Works Cited 167 Index 175 This page intentionally left blank Preface I began this project in the winter of 1997, about ten years ago and about ten years into my life as both teacher and parent. I had been teaching Paradise Lost in the context of introductory “great authors” courses and in courses on Milton’s works since 1985; I had been reading popular books on child-rearing, especially those of Haim Ginott, and more academic studies of intellectual development by Piaget and contemporary behavioral psychologists. I had been serving on college disciplinary committees—Honor Court, Judicial Board, Appeals Boar