37? A8/J M% 963 i IDEA OF NATURAL LAW IN MILTON'S COMUS AND PARADISE LOST DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Youngwhoe Koo, B.A., M.A. Denton, Texas May, 1998 Koo, Youngwhoe, Idea of Natural Law in Milton's Comus and Paradise Lost Doctor of Philosophy (English), May, 1998, 171 pp, Works Cited 109 titles This dissertation tries to locate Milton's optimistic view of man and nature as expressed in Comus, Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, and Paradise Lost in the long tradition of natural law that goes back to Aristotle, Cicero, and Aquinas. Opposing the Hobbesian and Lutheran attempt to undermine the theological assumption that man is innocent and rational, Milton reassesses human nature as closely related to divine nature by appropriating the scholastic theories of natural law. Whereas Hobbes and Reformed divines view human nature as self-centered and depraved, Milton, influenced by the natural-law traditional, advocates human dignity and autonomy. In Comus. while the Lady represents the ethical norm of nature, the hedonistic Comus is a figure that Hobbes describes as a representative of humanity. In Paradise Lost, rationally aware of his end of fulfilling his possibilities as a moral and religious being, Adam obeys God and proves himself to be an embodiment of goodness and innocence. Even after the Fall, Adam still retains a rational and moral power, as demonstrated by his genuine repentance of the sin and reconciliation with God. Adam perceives that moral life consists in virtuous acts and in the love of God and enjoys God's blessing. Natural law also encompasses sexuality as a constructive force for self-preservation and happiness. Contrary to the Protestant dogma that sees sexuality as corrupt, the Thomist theory of natural law provides Milton with a positive view of human sexuality. Man is a free agent because one is endowed by God with reason, the faculty that leads man to do moral acts. Milton's argument for divorce stems from his belief in natural law: because natural law (as a higher law) permits divorce, the lower law (canon law) should not abrogate the Mosaic permission of divorce. To force incompatible couples into the marriage yoke is both unnatural and against God's will. The subjects of natural law- conjugal love and happiness-are divinely intended, and no human law should interfere with natural law. Philosophers of natural law and Milton believe in the innocence, reason, and dignity of man. 37? A8/J M% 963 i IDEA OF NATURAL LAW IN MILTON'S COMUS AND PARADISE LOST DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Youngwhoe Koo, B.A., M.A. Denton, Texas May, 1998 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION i CHAPTER ONE 17 (CLASSICAL AND MEDIEVAL DOCTRINES OF NATURAL LAW) CHAPTER TWO 46 (RENAISSANCE NATURAL LAW AND MILTON) CHAPTER THREE (HUMAN GOODNESS AND SEXUAL MORALITY) CHAPTER FOUR (REASON AND FREE WILL) CHAPTER FIVE 142 (LOVE AND HAPPINESS) WORKS CITED INTRODUCTION Theological study of Milton's writings has been one of the most polemical and prolific fields in Milton studies. Although nobody can deny that the primary source of Milton's works such as Christian Doctrine and Paradise Lost is the Bible, his works demonstrate the width and depth of his knowledge of the diverse interpretations of the Scripture, ranging from the Patristic commentaries and medieval scholasticism to his contemporary Protestant theology. Among these exegetical traditions, Reformed theology has been considered to be the most influential source that sparked Milton's literary and intellectual imaginations. Many Miltonists have read Milton's works in the light of the Protestant doctrines. However, this critical trend has largely ignored the influence of St. Thomas Aquinas's theology on Milton.1 In this dissertation I attempt a new reading; that is, a scholastic reading of Milton. Particularly, Milton's Comus and Paradise Lost reflect Thomist optimism stemming from the belief that man is originally an innocent being endowed with reason that enables man to make ethical judgments and to achieve the goal of happiness. This dissertation will shed new light on Milton's theological positions in the larger natural law context: both Milton's Comus and Paradise Lost demonstrate that Milton's optimism and moral philosophy is closer to Thomas than to Calvin. I argue in this dissertation that Milton tried to solve the philosophical problems concerning human nature and man's relationship with God and, as a solution, he came up with an answer; that is, the concept of natural law, which Aquinas had also developed. Although in many aspects Milton's works reflect the Augustinian and Protestant doctrines, his theological positions and literary descriptions are not monologically Protestant. For example, if Paradise Lost is so fundamentally Calvinistic, how can we explain away the epic's prominently optimistic tone? Are Milton's representations of Adam and Eve as innocent and happy people compatible with the gloomy Protestant view of man as entirely corrupt? Can Reformed theology account for Milton's description 1 ofthe first parents as being able to exercise reason even after the Fall in such a degree that Adam reconciles with God? One area which Milton's works do not fit into the Reformed dogmatics is natural law which Reformed theologians rejected as heretical. Those questions can be answered if Aquinas' doctrine of natural law is applied to Milton's Paradise Lost. Aquinas offers a valuable theological and intellectual framework to Milton; therefore, an understanding of Aquinas will help the reader better appreciate Milton's theological and literary positions. Several scholars, though few, have paid attention to Milton's affiliation with the ideas of natural law. Ellen Goodman calls the reader's attention to the kinship between Aquinas natural law and Milton's Paradise Lost. Although her studies demonstrate an accurate understanding of Aquinas, she seems to oversimplify the differences between Milton and Thomas. Her basic argument, that while Milton is democratic and egalitarian, Aquinas is thoroughly authoritative, is not very convincing because I find egalitarian impulses in Thomas's writings, too. James Obertino deals exclusively with Comus in "Milton's use of Aquinas in Comus" in which various aspects of Thomism are well researched. But the article excludes other texts, such as Paradise Lost, which I think of as a suitable text for a study of natural law. Glenn Loney in Milton and Natural Law, which is a thorough study of the Thomist influence on Milton, says that "Milton's reliance on the various elements coalescing into the idea of natural law is not so easily characterized" *n Paradise Lost (12). I disagree with their argument that Paradise Lost is not a fit source in the study of natural law. This dissertation is intended to be a more comprehensive study of Milton s natural law by illuminating the kinship between Aquinas's writings and Milton's Comus and Paradise Lost. This dissertation attempts to establish a couple of common grounds that Milton shares with Aquinas. First, Aquinas's natural law is concerned more with the human than with the divine or demonic. It addresses the innocent state and the dignity of man. Milton's works deal more with the human affairs that occur in this world than those in the other world. Paradise Lost, for example, focuses more on Adam and Eve's lives, understandings, and actions than on angelic beings. More than two thirds of Paradise Lost is devoted to human affairs in this world. This dominant focus on the earth and the human couple reinforces Milton's indebtedness to Aquinas' natural law. Second, one can justify this dissertation's emphasis on the pre-lapsarian state of Adam and Eve, given the critical trend in which so many studies are on the post-lapsarian state of the general parents. On the premise that Paradise Lost is about the Fall and its concomitant loss (as the title "Lost" suggests) of paradise, numerous Miltonists have devoted themselves to the study of the post-lapsarian stage of Adam and Eve, rather than the pre-lapsarian stage of them. Taking a new approach to Milton, I will focus on the innocent state of the first human pair. Unlike most previous studies, this dissertation undertakes the study of the first parents before the Fall and aims at a contribution to Milton scholarship. Because few scholars have paid attention to the pre-lapsarian state of Adam and Eve, this dissertation's emphasis on the first parents' pre-lapsarian stage will shed new light on Milton's optimistic view of nature and human nature. The main texts for this dissertation are Comus. the Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, and Paradise Lost. These three works particularly fit into the category of natural law. Both Comus and Paradise Lost use the Thomist concepts of natural law in their description of the Lady and Adam in their original goodness and innocent state. The divorce tract is based on the premise that natural law is higher than canon law because the former is given by God. Moses received laws from God, and the Mosaic law permits divorce; therefore, divorce should be allowed. Besides these three works, Milton left a copious body of theology. His life-long study in theology yielded fruit in the publication of Christian Doctrine., which is used by the reader as an authoritative theological treatise by Milton and a reliable source of Milton s doctrinal positions. In order to support my argument about Milton's theology, I will also refer to Christian Doctrine.