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The Personal Heresy

The Personal Heresy is a debate between C. S. Lewis and E. M. W. Tillyard, who was the Master of Jesus College at Cambridge University. Both were interested in Milton’s Paradise Lost. Tillyard had already published a critical work on Milton. Lewis’s book A Preface to Paradise Lost was still to come. Lewis took issue with an underlying assumption Tillyard made, that is, that Milton’s Paradise Lost was primarily about the state of the author’s mind when he wrote the book.

Lewis disagreed and wrote a critical essay in opposition, publishing it in Essays and Studies, a literary journal. The following year, Tillyard responded in the same journal. The next year, Lewis responded again to Tillyard. The fact that the debate was recognized as worthy of note to occupy space in three successive years of journal publications is no small matter. And, the debate was intriguing enough that Tillyard and Lewis decided to continue it, each responding to the other, until a book could be published containing the entire conversation. The Personal Heresy is of great significance for all who are interested in Milton. Even more, it is significant for all who are interested in learning the art of thinking through a matter where understanding can be honed and sharpened by positive engagement with others with whom we might disagree.