John Milton's "Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce" argued that the most valid reason for divorce was that of incompatibility and his prophetic vision of this

The first 200 words of this essay...

Heather Glazier

Dr. Frances Batycki

English 414

14 Apr. 2005

Milton's Prophetic Vision of Divorce

John Milton's "Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce" argued that the most valid reason for divorce was that of incompatibility and his prophetic vision of this reason for divorce is the one now primarily relied on to end marriage in our modern culture. His view contrasted with the social and religious laws of the time and he was both criticized for advocating such a radical change in the marriage laws and accused of having selfish motivations for his position since his own marriage was proving to be problematic at the time he wrote "Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce". If John Milton was alive today I think he would be both elated and impressed that the lawmakers had finally seen the issue of divorce through his eyes, although he would have serious issues with the basis and sometimes flimsy reasons on which incompatibility is established and possibly have some objections to the fact that that women have as much right to pursue this path to freedom as men do. Whatever his motivations were in writing the "DDD" he backed his position