According to one set of
critics he is not so much a hater of the arts as indifferent to
their charms, not so much a Milton scornful of easy beauty, as a
Philistine, deaf and blind to the aesthetic. But these writers have
apparently confounded Great-great-grandfather Puritan with Grandpa
Victorian, the Victorian that Matthew Arnold scolded and Shaw made
fun of. He is a type as different from the real Puritan as the
slum dweller from the primitive barbarian. "Milton, thou shouldst
be living at this hour" to flay such ignorant traducers of those
who knew at least the beauty of austerity and holiness.
According to a less numerous but more clear-headed group of
enemies the Puritan is to be censured chiefly for the rigidity of
his conscience. He will not let us enjoy such "natural" pleasures
as mirth, love, drinking, and idleness without a bitter antidote
of remorse. He keeps books dull and reticent, makes plays
virtuously didactic, and irritates all but the meek and the godly
into revolt.
I am not an uncritical admirer of the Puritan, although I believe
he is more nearly on the side of the angels than is his opposite.
Pages:
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203