Comus, a Masque: Is Innocent the Same as Good?

     Comus, a Masque by John Milton. A masque is a type of play that was particularly popular in the years after Oliver Cromwell’s rule over England (1653-1658). Cromwell created strict laws in support of Protestantism and the establishment of the Commonwealth. This man outlawed celebrations, and most color, everyone looked and felt like they were at a funeral for most of the 1650s. So afterwards, they had a decade-long party.

     John Milton was a religious man, and expressed that in his creative work, so he did not participate in the frivolity of the 1660s, but he did use the extravagant culture to his advantage. Sending religious messages in the form of over the top theater.

     Comus focused heavily on the moral implications of chastity and how valued it should be. The story is set in an enchanted wood, where a sorcerer lives. This sorcerer tests all sorts of people who find him with gluttony, and those who fail never make it out, but rather are turned into half beasts, men with goat heads and the like. But these people think they look even better than they did before, and gorge themselves on whatever they like for the rest of their days. A young maiden finds herself captured by the sorcerer who tempts her to give up her virginity, but unlike most, she overcomes his temptations and gets out of the wood with the help of her two companions.

     There are the obvious implications embedded into the story, but there are still more to be found. Why did Milton use animals so much throughout the story? Animals are often used as metaphor, and in metaphor create a moral gray area. Animals- being without morals- are inherently innocent creatures, however they indulge in that which humans might find morally questionable, creating a similar moral gray area regarding whether to be more like animals is good, or morally wrong.

      The story of Adam and Eve is a good example of this question. Eve ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Before this, Adam and Eve were innocent, these characters did not know right from wrong and therefore could not doing anything malicious with intent, just like animals. But people do have knowledge of good and evil, so is it right to treat the world like we are like animals. We were like animals when we were selfish babies, never knowing right from wrong, simply crying out anytime we needed anything, that is selfish, but it is also entirely innocent. We aren’t selfish babies anymore, or dogs, but if both things are innocent, how can one achieve innocence?

     Dogs have rules, they wanna be part of the pack so they follow the rules to be “good dogs”. But that is not the same as having morality. The beast headed people think they are beautiful and right and feel they are being deep by being licentious, but in reality they are being more beastial. People do know right from wrong, which means to act like animals who can’t tell the difference and must be selfish for survival is simply to do what is morally wrong and know it. People who have morality have to decide something of what that means for themselves, and the world manifesting around them.

L'Innocence (1893) Catholic Painting

     There is a unifying truth, but it is not like anyone knows what that is. There is a conversation to be had in search of that truth, which creates a unifying moral order. When someone is deciding that they get to define moral order themselves, it is the luciferian conceit. It is unavoidable, but making up your own decision like the tower of babble or being like Eve, people get things wrong. When you get things wrong you suffer like Adam and Eve. Suffering in this way, in the way animals never have to, is part of having free will. It is good to search for truth like no animal can, but good isn’t always right just as innocent isn’t always good. To see the big picture of the world is what makes humans wonderful and terrible. To have humanity is an amazing thing, but it means no one can be innocent.