Books as a Source of Life In Areopogitica

 

    Milton considers censorship and licensing to be an insult against the people of England. His main argument relies mostly on the fact that evil is everywhere and an attempt to eliminate evil is to attempt to disregard or even eliminate reasoning. Hence, provided that people of England are virtuous enough to not be tempted by evil and have the reason to distinguish good and evil, eliminating books not only will be an attempt to underestimate the people of England but also will diminish the importance of virtue and reason.[JCW1]  To reinforce his argument Milton portrays a figurative battlefield between good and evil and through that he proposes that good and truth will always prevail against evil and deception under fair circumstances. Milton puts significance on reasoning and virtue which are the two most important pieces of equipment that can guide the individual in the battle of good and evil. According to Milton, reading and writing books is a practice for reasoning and a test for virtue. Therefore, obstructing any process of reading or writing is obstructing the practice of reasoning and virtue. More importantly, Milton depicts images and metaphors related to sex and childbirth while referring to reading and writing books. [JCW2] In this essay, I shall attempt to analyze Milton’s use of sex in “Areopogitica” and I will argue that because Milton regards reasoning and virtue as vital elements that make individuals human attempt to eliminate and disregard reasoning is an attempt to dehumanize the individual. Milton uses sexual images in “Areopogitica” because he draws the readers' attention to how reading books and sex are similar in the sense that they both give life to humankind[JCW3] . To be precise, just like sex can give life, reading books will give life to reason and virtue by enriching it and give life to the individual.[JCW4] 

Milton integrates sex and reproduction into the image of a reading book because he implies that a necessary evil is needed to appreciate and understand the good[JCW5] . Milton suggests that we should promiscuously read meaning we should read as diverse and as much as we can. He gives reason to his argument in two different ways. He mentions gluttony and how God set “the rules of temperance.” and then he establishes that God did not set a rule for the man’s mind, “he then also, as before, left arbitrary the dieting and repasting of our minds; as wherein every mature man might have to exercise his own leading capacity” (Milton 22) Here, Milton makes a reference to the first book of genesis where God grants Adam and Eve the free will. Satan disguised as a serpent deceives them into eating from the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil that will grant Adam and Eve the knowledge of good and evil. The first book of genesis describes this to be the first sin and the birth of humankind on Earth. In “Paradise Lost”, the archangel Michael shows Adam the calamities and corruption humankind will be subjected to. However, at the end of Michael’s speech, he comforts Adam basically telling him that it is in Adam’s hand to live a good life highlighting the man’s ability to choose. [JCW6] Thereby, when Milton alludes to Genesis, he implies that “every mature man” will be subjected to a sort of evil and that evil will grant them the ability to appreciate and understand the good. Therefore, the function of evil is to reveal what good is to a virtuous person. Milton enforces this idea by saying that reading evil books allows people to criticize and to refute “but herein the difference is of bad books, that they to a discreet and judicious reader serve in many respects to discover, to confute, to forewarn, and to illustrate” (Milton 22). In other words, reading books vivify reasoning and virtue and it is this precise reason why Milton integrates sex into the image of reading books. [JCW7] He establishes that evil and good are woven into each other so inseparably close that they are to be understood together. Promiscuously implies the potential evil that can be brought upon by reading a diversity of potentially unorthodox books. Simply, Milton uses sex to allude to necessary evil to understand good. [JCW8] Lastly. By pointing out the birth of humankind in “Paradise Lost” and in Genesis Milton shows that freedom of choice is what gave birth to man. Because reasoning is the begetter of freedom to choose, writing and reading become a source of life. [JCW9] 

Furthermore, killing a book is the same as killing a man because it strips down the man’s ability to choose makes him a lifeless puppet. Consequently, reading a book is giving life because it amplifies the man’s ability to choose. Milton contemplates on the idea that reasoning and virtue save Adam from being an artificial puppet and claims that “When God gave him reason, he gave him freedom to choose, for reason is but choosing; he had been else a mere artificial Adam, such an Adam as he is in the motions” (Milton 30) Milton’s example of Adam sheds a light on why killing a book is the same with killing a man.[JCW10]  One of the most important elements in making us human is our reasoning which allows us to have freedom of choice. Therefore, obstructing freedom of choice is also obstructing reasoning which is frankly killing a man. In “Paradise Lost”, virtue carries utmost importance as Michael asserts that it will guide Adam in his life on earth. Milton dwells on the idea that any forceful impact on restricting books will diminish the importance of virtue and puts forward a rhetorical question “If every action, which is good or evil in man at ripe years, were to be under pittance and prescription and compulsion, what were virtue but a name?” (Milton 30) Milton’s rhetorical question reveals that licensing books will doom people into ignorance because it will draw one of the most important elements which will guide humankind, to be insignificant. Reading and writing books, on the other hand, amplify man’s reasoning and virtue which are the two core elements that keep humankind alive. Ultimately, this depiction of books is similar to sex in the regard that they both are the source of life.  [JCW11] 

In conclusion, Milton integrates sex into his argument to point out the vivifying nature of books. The church, according to “Areopagitica”, wants to silence unorthodox books out of fear that it may corrupt the people. However, Milton proves that silencing them will only make them stronger because it will weaken people’s reasoning and virtue. Milton, to emphasizes books’ vivifying nature on reasoning and virtue, he portrays them with images related to sex and reproduction. Milton’s controversial portrait of the books shows the importance and function of evil in finding the truth and good.

Milton, J., Barker, N., Milton, J., & Milton, J. (1998). Areopagitica. Palo Alto, CA: Octavo.