Comparing and Contrasting Melancholy in Cavendish and Milton

In both John Milton’s Il Penseroso and Margaret Cavendish’s A Dialogue between Melancholy and Mirth, Melancholy is a mature intellectual pursuit imparting knowledge and virtue since the poets draw on its complex and multifaceted nature. But while Cavendish’s description of melancholic thoughts and actions is very generalized, Milton’s is more specific. This may be because Cavendish’s poem is a debate while Milton is in an extended reflection.

Cavendish’s Melancholy describes herself like this: “True, I am dull, yet by me you shall know / More of yourself, and so much wiser grow. / I search the depth and bottom of mankind, / Open the eye of ignorance that’s blind” (Cavendish 95-99). She describes Melancholy as a sort of enlightenment, the opening of the eye and the parsing of depths. The word “dull” also fits well with the association of Melancholy with nighttime. John Milton sees knowledge in a similar way. He describes himself looking in the sky from a “high lonely tower”: “Where I may oft outwatch the Bear, / With thrice great Hermes, or unsphere / The spirit of Plato to unfold / What worlds, or what vast regions hold / The immortal mind that hath forsook / Her mansion in this fleshly nook” (Milton 86-92). Milton’s reflection also involves his speaker going on a deep search for knowledge. As poets and creative writers Milton and Cavendish saw the sad, deep thoughtful nature of Melancholy as important. It is useful for poets to have complex and multifaceted emotional and intellectual natures. Milton’s speaker describes looking at the sky and constellations like the Ursa Minor. He also mentions the spirit of Hermes Trismegistus, who wrote the mystical Corpus Hermetus, major neo-Platonic texts which were the first translated into Latin. He talks about summoning Plato from his heavenly sphere (Orgel & Goldberg 748). He wants to parse the secrets of the immortal mind. Both Cavendish and Milton associate melancholy with a still, quiet place. Cavendish’s Melancholy says that she “live[s] in a small house alone, / The littleness doth make it warm, being close; / no wind nor weather cold can there have force. / Although ‘tis plain, yet cleanly ‘tis within, / Like to a soul that’s pure and clear from sin” (Cavendish 150-54). Similarly, Milton says that “if the air will not permit, / Some still removed place will fit” (Milton 77-78). A quiet, austere place is considered valuable by poets and writers even today, and Cavendish compared it to a soul clean from sin. Bad weather and noise are metaphors for sin, while virtue and knowledge are associated with quietness and stillness.

But even with the similarities, the differences are clear in that Milton is explicitly saying what knowledge and which great philosophers he is looking for, while Cavendish’s Melancholy is very general in talking about her benefits and actions. Other than Melancholy and Mirth, no other figure is mentioned in Cavendish’s poem but Bacchus (Cavendish 87). This may be because of the nature of the two poems: Cavendish’s is supposed to be a debate between Melancholy and Mirth, while Milton’s is a long rumination. In the former, the job of Melancholy and Mirth respectively is to convince the speaker to take them as a lover, and they are personified. Cavendish does not need to have an extended contemplation and reflection in this debate and name specific characters to make it work. She can be more abstract. Meanwhile, Milton’s speaker is contemplating knowledge and existence. That is why he calls on the philosopher Plato, who was deep on metaphysical questions and is known for his Parable of the Cave which involves enlightenment. The poem is also an opportunity for Milton to show his extended knowledge on characters associated with melancholy. Milton’s speaker is asking the virgin for the knowledge of specific poets: “But, O sad virgin, that thy power / Might raise Musaeus from his bower, / Or bid the soul of Orpheus sing” (Milton 103-5). These figures were known as masters of poetry, with Musaeus specifically known as the master of religious poetry. Orpheus was a mythological archetype of the musician and poet. Milton’s speaker also calls on Geoffrey Chaucer (Orgel & Goldberg 749). He wants the knowledge, talent and inspiration of these figures. Cavendish’s speaker is looking for Melancholy or Mirth in itself, while Milton’s is looking for the knowledge and feelings that Melancholy brings.

Both Milton and Cavendish see Melancholy mature intellectual pursuits, but Cavendish is very general while Milton is more specific in his poem. This is because Cavendish’s poem is a debate while Milton’s is an extended reflection. Thus Cavendish devotes space to both Mirth and Melancholy’s cases, while Milton reflects deeply on Melancholy. The two versions of Melancholy do not contradict each other, but simply emphasize different aspects in different contexts.