Areopagitica

The title, which refers to both Isocrates’s address to the Council of Areopagus and the apostle Paul’s sermon at Mars’ Hill has multiple layers of meaning. First, by addressing Parliament, Milton is taking a similar stance as Isocrates. Both are singular private citizens speaking out to powerful committees. Milton is using Isocrates’s method of delivery, writing his oration as a prose tract rather than speaking it aloud. His allusion to Paul’s preaching connects to both the location of Paul’s oration—the same hill where the Council of Areopagus held court—and his references to Greek culture. Milton’s argument asserts that all literature should be uncensored, meaning that scholars should have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with texts such as Greek poetry and those that describe Greek religion, which might otherwise be considered blasphemous and censored. In Paul’s sermon, he uses his knowledge of Greek poetry and religion to preach Christianity, demonstrating the very assertion that is the crux of Milton’s Areopagitica: a strong, moral person can read even heathen texts and, rather than be corrupted, elevate those texts to a moral purpose. Similarly, Milton also demonstrates this by making classical allusions in his oration even more often than biblical ones.

Milton’s critique of the members of Parliament is clever. He formulates much of his criticism as conditional praise. The men of Parliament are learned men who love liberty and surely must desire to maintain that freedom through repeal of the censorship act. He compliments Parliament by comparing English society to that of ancient Greece and Rome, which were highly innovative and intellectual civilizations. He also makes a point to compare Parliament to the papacy, which was considered the enemy of the Church of England and the Presbyterian members of Parliament, in such a way that the similarities between the Catholic Church and Presbyterian Parliament hinge on the actions Parliament takes in response to Milton’s argument. If the practice of licensing and censorship is an invention of the Catholic Church and integral to the Council of Trent and the Spanish Inquisition, then to utilize that practice is to be like the Catholic Church. If Parliament abolishes the licensing act, then his words are compliments because Milton is saying that Parliament is better than the papacy. If they do not, Milton is insulting them by comparing them to their foes.

In this text, Milton shows a great regard and respect for books. He refers to them as living things, comparing pre-publication censorship to killing a man. It’s important to note that, although this text has been utilized repeatedly since it was written as a doctrine of free speech, free speech is not quite what Milton is arguing. He is not suggesting an entirely free press or the freedom to print anything. He is simply arguing that a text shouldn’t be judged until after it is printed. This differs greatly from the first amendment rights granted in the United States Constitution, which promises that Congress will not impose laws that censor or punish an individual or the press’s speech. The constitution places restrictions on harmful language, such as libel, threats, or language that incites violence, but it does not limit speech based on content or beliefs. Milton does not suggest that Parliament allow all manner of ideas and blasphemy to roam unchecked throughout the nation. Rather, he argues that man must become his own censor and licenser.

In order for man to become virtuous—and while modern language would prefer multi- or un-gendered nouns, Milton certainly meant men in his historical moment—he must have access to a wide array of ideas and information. Milton argues both for the power of books as “the precious lifeblood of a master spirit” (341) and against the power of books to create or destroy morality and wisdom. Reading is a necessary exercise in the creation of an ethical man. Milton’s morality, which is decidedly based in the Christian church, centers on a constant search for truth. This hunt for truth does not involve questioning the essential tenets or beliefs of Christianity, but rather encompasses the belief that faithfulness to Christian beliefs must not stagnate. Milton treats his faith in the Judeo-Christian God as living rather than frozen. Since Milton asserts that untested virtue, or virtue that has been legally imposed, is not virtue, the ability to discern correct morality from an array of tempting materials is essential to his religion. Therefore, he prizes the “liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties” (374). As he argues, books do not create wisdom and morality, nor do they corrupt, and neither do any of the other pleasurable pastimes in which people engage—wisdom and morality come from within.