John Milton and Christian Marital Love

Catholicism, inspired by New Testament, has a dual view about marital love. On the one hand it regards the union of a man and his wife as the symbol of the eternal union of Christ and Church deals with it as a sacrament, on the other hand, it regards sexual relation as the base of this union and accepts its legitimacy only for the purpose of reproduction without any pleasure-seeking intention. Protestant leaders denied marriage as a religious sacrament but had a positive view about marital sexual relations. In Paradise Lost John Milton criticizes the catholic view vigorously. He says love, as emotional attachment and empathy not sexual relation, is the base of marital relationship and believes that true marital love has a transcending effect on the lover. Therefore one can say that Milton’s views about marital love are even more positive than the views of the leaders of the Reformation.