This discussion is probably better addressed to the Milton-List, but what
the hell. I was wondering what Marshall and John might make of how desire
works in Heaven, pre-Lapsarian Heaven, that is. The angels feel love and
clearly a form of sexual love (is it carnal?). Is Milton perhaps positing a
form of desire that not predicated upon lack?
Peter C. Herman
At 06:28 PM 10/22/00 -0400, you wrote:
>Yes. But Milton is interestingly inconsistent on the point.
>"New Heaven and earth" rise from the ashes of heaven and
>earth as we know it, and it is not entirely obvious that
>souls come through the conflagration with their
>individuality, their histories and their personal memories
>and their wills (if souls have wills) . Milton says that
>when new heaven and earth come "God will be All in All."
>Does this mean God will permeate a universe like ours, or
>that the his creatio per se will return to undifferentiated
>being? Milton in general seems to me to sustains as radical
>a reading as we might want to give him.
>
>And that's if we want to read his theology back into his
>narrative. Whatever he thinks about the relationship of
>individual subjectivity to unfulfilled desire, his
>narrative vehicle won't carry him past "God is All in All"
>so Milton may not think that desire is not endlessly
>deferred but his poem knows that when and if it desire is
>ended, so too is the story.
>
>On Sun, 22 Oct 2000 17:38:44 -0400 John Leonard
><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: d. m. frances batycki <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> > Date: October 22, 2000 4:43 PM
> > Subject: Re: Milton's wanting soul
> >
> >
> > >
> > >The wanting soul is indeed imperfect; it is lacking and awaiting
> > >and,according to the very notion of original sin, always desiring a
> > >perfection it can never have. It's imperfection is in the now, the
> > >present, but the "lacking" or "wanting" exists in the paradox of desire.
> > >Perfection can only exist in some endlessly deferred future.
> > >Frances Batycki
> >
> >
> > "Endlessly deferred"? Certainly not in in Milton, who anticipates a future
> > in which the desires of the redeemed *will* be gratified:
> >
> > "New heavens, new earth, ages of endless date
> > Founded in righteousness and peace and love
> > To bring forth fruits Joy and eternal Bliss." (PL 12 548-50).
> >
> > The word "endless" in Milton is always used of either salvation or
> > damnation. It is never used of pointless waiting. Milton's hope might be
> > unfounded, but the hope is sincere, and he is hoping for more than
> > deferment.
> >
> > Yours derentially,
> >
> > John Leonard
> >
>
>----------------------
>Marshall Grossman
>[log in to unmask]
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