As discussed in my previous article (https://steemit.com/literature/@rennoelle/forbidden-knowledge-marlowe-s-doctor-faustus-and-the-renaissance), Christopher Marlowe, a sixteenth-century Renaissance playwright, presents the pursuit of higher knowledge as something that should be limited to those who know how to properly steward such knowledge. This same idea is portrayed in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, which was written a century later than Doctor Faustus during the Restoration. Despite writing in different eras and on different subjects, Marlowe and Milton’s portrayal of forbidden knowledge has several similarities, although they have their differences as well. In Faustus, only those who are capable of being entrusted with higher knowledge should use it, while in Paradise Lost the focus is on being obedient and submissive to God.
Humanism and the Puritans
The key to understanding Marlowe and Milton’s texts is first understanding the historical context in which their texts were written. While Marlowe lived during the Renaissance when humanism was thriving, Milton wrote Paradise Lost during the era of Restoration. In comparison to humanism, which eagerly sought out new ideas and knowledge, Puritan thinking protested “[a]gainst the humanist glorification of man’s reason and learning” (Morgan 49-50). However, the Puritans were far from declaring knowledge as “evil” in general. Milton himself was highly educated and knowledgeable in classical literature, as Paradise Lost can well attest, and he is a testament to the Puritan willingness “to learn from the accomplishments of classical, as well as Christian scholars” (Morgan 48). Puritans were not against knowledge but the they were fearful that a desire for reason and knowledge would “[expect] to solve mysteries that God preferred to keep clouded” (Morgan 48-49). Paradise Lost reflects Milton’s Puritan thinking as it portrays knowledge as something that can be dangerous as soon as humans become overly desirous for knowledge and seek to become gods themselves with that knowledge. The Renaissance and Restoration clearly influenced Marlowe and Milton and their texts as both writers wish to warn their audiences of the dangers that accompany the procuration of knowledge.
Forbidden Knowledge in Paradise Lost
In Paradise Lost, like in Dr. Faustus, Adam and Eve’s desire to have knowledge of good and evil and become like God ultimately brings about the Fall of humanity. Satan decides to “excite their minds / [w]ith more desire to know, and to reject / [e]nvious commands, invented with design / [t]o keep them low, whom knowledge might exalt / [e]qual with gods” (4.522-26). Eve tells Adam that the fruit has the “divine effect / To open eyes, and make them gods who taste” (9.866-67). Unlike Eve, Adam eats of the fruit “[a]gainst his better knowledge; not deceived” (9.998). Here, Adam fails to use the knowledge that God gave him and in the end, commits a foolish crime. In Book 12, Adam says that he has “learn[ed] that to obey is best,” to which Michael replies, “This having learned, thou hast attained the sum / [o]f wisdom; hope no higher” before bidding Adam to “[o]nly add / [d]eeds to thy knowledge” (561, 575-76, 81-82). By the end of the poem, “Adam seems to realize the danger of speculative reason’s abstractive power, and he resolves to avoid it henceforth, practicing instead faith along with ‘lowly wisdom’” (Lindley 364). Paradise Lost suggests that obedience to God and God’s wisdom is much more important than the pursuit of higher knowledge. This differs from Faustus which focuses less on obedience and suggest that higher knowledge can be acquired as long as one knows how to properly use it.
Learning and Gluttony
Both Marlowe and Milton associate the language of knowledge and learning with gluttony. While Marlowe urges his audience to be content with whatever knowledge they possess if they are incapable of properly stewarding higher knowledge, Milton warns his readers to remain lowly and content with the knowledge God gives them. Both authors look down upon a selfish, gluttonous desire for knowledge as unacceptable. Faustus remarks, “How am I glutted with conceit of this!” and after he meets the Seven Deadly Sins, he remarks, “O, this feeds my soul” (1.1:79; 2.3:177). In the same way that Faustus greedily devours knowledge, Satan’s words “[wake] / An eager appetite” and when Eve eats the fruit, she “[g]reedily…[engorges it] without restraint” (9.739-41, 791). Both Marlowe and Milton portray a ravenous hunger for knowledge as the crime that sets Faustus, Adam and Eve on the path to destruction. This metaphor of gluttony comments on the society in which Marlowe and Milton were living. Both texts urge their audience to realize the danger of a hungry appetite for information. The hunger of the mind does not necessarily reflect the readiness of a person to be entrusted with higher knowledge. Faustus’ selfishness and foolishness makes him an unsuitable candidate for higher knowledge and his obtaining of knowledge that should be forbidden to him leads to his destruction. God makes Adam and Eve with all the knowledge and wisdom they need to contentedly live in Eden. Their greed for more, unnecessary knowledge leads to their disobedience and ultimately their Fall. Both texts show that knowledge does not make a person wise. In Faustus, true wisdom is recognizing when to curb one’s appetite for knowledge and to be a good steward of the knowledge one has. In Paradise Lost, obedience to God should be the priority and one should trust that God has supplied one with whatever knowledge one needs in order to function in society. A gluttonous attitude towards knowledge should be seen as a warning sign.
Conclusion
Dr. Faustus and Paradise Lost complement one another as both texts have devastating repercussions for humans who strive to know more than what is good for them. Both texts present the wise as those who are content with what they already know and feel no need to search out forbidden knowledge. Knowledge in itself is not a bad thing; it only becomes dangerous if people treat it improperly. In Doctor Faustus, higher knowledge should only be obtained by someone if he is wise and capable of using it for the betterment of himself and society. Higher knowledge should be forbidden to those who are foolish and selfish. In Paradise Lost, Milton urges his audience to focus on being obedient to God instead of pursuing higher knowledge that God has not equipped them to be stewards of. The pursuit of knowledge should be considered tentatively since a gluttonous misuse of higher knowledge can result in devastating consequences.
Works Cited
Crosbie, Christopher. “Publicizing the Science of God: Milton’s Raphael and the Boundaries of
Knowledge.” Renascence, vol. 67, no. 4, Fall2015, pp. 239-260. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=110815679&site=ehost-live.
Lindley, III, Dwight A. “The Way George Eliot Read Paradise Lost: Raphael and the
Temptation of Speculative Thought.” Christianity & Literature, vol. 62, no. 3, Spring2013, pp. 355-367. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=89965420&site=ehost-live.
Marlowe, Christopher. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. The Broadview Anthology of
British Literature, Concise Edition, Volume A, edited by Joseph Black, et al., 2nd edition, Broadview Press, 2011, pp. 758-786.
Milton, John. Paradise Lost. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, Concise Edition,
Volume A, edited by Joseph Black, et al., 2nd edition, Broadview Press, 2011, pp. 920-997.
Morgan, John. Godly Learning: Puritan Attitudes towards Reason, Learning and Education,
1560-1640. Cambridge University Press, 1986. Google Books, books.google.ca/books/about/Godly_Learning.html?id=vLIaFv1lpb8C.