In 1643 he married Mary Powell, the daughter of a Cavalier; and, taking
her from the gay life of her father's house, he brought her into a gloom
and seclusion almost insupportable. He loved his books better than he did
his wife. He fed and sheltered her, indeed, but he gave her no tender
sympathy. Then was enacted in his household the drama of the rebellion in
miniature; and no doubt his domestic troubles had led to his extended
discussion of the question of divorce. He speaks, too, almost entirely in
the interest of husbands. With him woman is not complementary to man, but
his inferior, to be cherished if obedient, to minister to her husband's
welfare, but to have her resolute spirit broken after the manner of
Petruchio, the shrew-tamer. In all this, however, Milton was eminently a
type of the times. It was the canon law of the established Church of
England at which he aimed, and he endeavored to lead the parliament to
legislation upon the most sacred ties and relations of human life.
Happily, English morals were too strong, even in that turbulent period, to
yield to this unholy attempt.
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