Milton’s Paradise Lost This page intentionally left blank Milton’s Paradise Lost Moral Education Margaret Olofson Thickstun MILTON’SPARADISELOST © Margaret Olofson Thickstun,2007. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 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 978-1-349-53761-7 ISBN 978-0-230-60420-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230604209 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 978-1–4039–7757–7 (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(cid:2).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 For John and Russ— “Love calls us to the things of this world.” This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction Teaching Paradise Lostin the Twenty-First Century 1 1 God as Father in Paradise Lost 21 2 Satan, Interpretive Choices, and the Danger of Fixed Stories 33 3 Abdiel, Peer Pressure, and the Rebel Angels 53 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 Adam as Parent 119 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 Lostin 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 Board; I had been following carefully the work of Lawrence Kohlberg and his colleagues at Harvard in their effort to define stages of moral growth, as well as the work of Carol Gilligan, also of Harvard, and her colleagues in exposing the gendered assumptions underlying Kohlberg’s theories. The language that students used to excuse themselves from responsibility for their actions echoed the language that Kohlberg and Gilligan quote in their studies. It all began to resonate with the language that Milton gives to Satan, to Adam, and to Eve. The discussions of Paradise Lost in this book are influenced as much by contemporary research in developmental psychology and moral development as they are by current Milton scholarship. I have found from experience that readers may resist this approach, and I ask their patience. Contemporary psychologists operate under the assumption, documented by Piaget and others, that the human mind develops structurally in predictable ways as it becomes physiologically capable of processing more and more complex concepts. Here is an example: when my son was about five years old, I tried the conserva- tion of liquids experiment. We started with two one-cup measuring cups filled each to the one-cup line with water. I asked which had more, to which he replied that they each had the same amount of water. I poured from one measuring cup into a tall thin glass. “Now which has more?” I asked. “The tall glass,” he replied. I poured that