- All's Well That Ends Well
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Here, Milton is arguing that Parliament can’t remove vice, or sin, from the world without negatively impacting one’s virtue. This quote is significant because it underscores Milton’s assertion that untested virtue is weak virtue. Parliament’s Licensing Order endeavors to remove offensive and sinful books from circulation to spare citizens from sin, thereby safeguarding the virtue of England and ensuring their collective piety and righteousness. However, Milton argues this forced righteousness leads to “cloistered virtue” that is sheltered and untried.
Milton implies that, as Christians, they are not born into the world pure and full of “innocence.” Of course, this runs…