The social atmosphere in England at the end of the eighteenth century abounded with visions of new heavens and new earths propagated by political and religious writers. To some, the French Revolution was incontrovertible evidence that the Day of Judgement was near, and that the end of the century would coincide with the end of time. To others, elaborate mathematical calculations produced the same conclusion. Many writers became self-proclaimed prophets who depicted new revelation of the future in detail, and their audience became a culture of anticipation who eagerly awaited the fruition of prophecy and the descent of the New Jerusalem. William Blake was at once related and opposed to this Literature of Anticipation. The collection of illuminated texts known as his "Bible of Hell" adopts the familiar form of prophecy, but acerbically criticizes the action---or inaction---of Blake's contemporaries, and seriously questions the foundation of Christian theology and the beneficence of the Christian God. What emerges from Blake's Bible is a concept of prophecy that stresses an immediacy of vision in sharp contrast with the fruitless waiting of millennialist prophets, and an internal locus of responsibility that dissolves all ties to tyrannical authority.

Bibliography: leaves [581]-591 / xi, 591 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of English, 1985

Orientador: Luiz Carlos da Silva Dantas / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-27T10:35:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alves_AndreaLima_M.pdf: 34609800 bytes, checksum: 9df9aa22c9a8021367e3252e5f96430a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2001 / Resumo: Averiguar o caráter da interação entre ilustrações e texto literário no livro O Matrimônio do Céu e do Inferno de William Blake constituiu o principal intuito da presente dissertação de mestrado. Para que tal intento fosse alcançado fez-se necessário uma análise detalhada da obra: buscou-se a literatura crítica sobre esta, livros e artigos de especialistas americanos e ingleses dos quais pode-se afirmar serem quase que a totalidade daqueles existentes até o presente momento. A primeira parte do estudo é dedicada a essa tarefa por se tratar de um livro muito significativo dentro do conjunto da obra literária de Blake (toda ela ilustrada pelo próprio artista), considerado unanimemente pela crítica como a melhor introdução para o complexo universo blakeano - visto o artista inglês ter criado uma cosmogonia e mitologia peculiares, de difícil acesso a seus leitores. Apesar de O Matrimônio não apresentar referências explícitas a essa mitologia por ser um de seus primeiros livros, nele já estão presentes as principais idéias e a estética que marcaria toda sua obra. A segunda parte da dissertação contém uma apresentação sucinta das reflexões teóricas ocidentais sobre arte que se valeram da comparação entre a pintura e a poesia, utilizanda-a como fio condutor para a exposição das características dessas duas linguagens na "arte composta" criada por Blake / Abstract: The present dissertation inquires into the nature of the relationship between text and illustration in William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. In order to realise this it was necessary to do a minute analysis of the work, based almost entirely on books and articles of american and english experts written up until now. The first part of the study is dedicated to this task because this book of Blake's is very significant within his literary work (all of it illustrated by himself). It is thought of as the best introduction to the complex blakean universe, in which the artist created a particular cosmogony and mythology. Although The Marriage does not present an explicit allusion to this mythology, being one of his first books, it already presents the main ideas and the aesthetic that will mark the rest of his work. The second part of the dissertation includes a brief presentation of the theoretical reflections on art by comparing picture and poetry (the ut pictura poesis tradition). This study is then used as a guide to explore the two languages characteristic in the "composite art" created by Blake / Mestrado / Mestre em Teoria e História Literária

The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature and extent of Dylan Thomas's artistic debt to William Blake. "Chapter I" of our study documents Thomas's professional interest in Blake, offering evidence that Thomas read Blake extensively and carefully. Further, evidence is presented of Thomas's admiration of Blake as a poet and his stated desire to emulate him. "Chapter II" traces Thomas’s direct borrowings from Blake in his 18 Poems as well as in a short story. Because Northrop Frye's idea of the importance of and significance of literary borrowing and literary allusion dictates the direction of much of our argument, our discussion attempts to show the significance of Thomas's borrowings; the implication is that Thomas's imagination shared certain archetypal similarities to that of Blake's. The method of investigation used throughout the thesis, then, has involved a detailed examination of the poems of both poets with the purpose in mind of indicating, where possible, the archetypal significance of the borrowing. "Chapter III" attempts to establish Thomas's direct debt to Blake for many of his images and concepts in his "Altarwise by Owl-Light" sonnet sequence. Our implication is that Thomas was directly influenced in writing the sequence by his knowledge of Blake's epics Vala and Milton. Evidence is presented, in fact, that Thomas borrowed certain of the images for his sonnets from Blake's epics. The preoccupation of both Blake and Thomas with the sinister female will aspect of love in marriage is investigated in "Chapter IV"; our argument implies that Blake derived much of his attitude toward married love from Milton, and through both Milton and Blake, Thomas inherited a somewhat similar attitude. At all times, however, our chief concern is with the poetry resulting from these underlying tensions. There emerges from our study evidence of a striking similarity in artistic vision between Blake and Thomas. Our tracing of literary archetypes (in Northrop Frye's definition) and analogues in the poems leads to the conclusion that Thomas saw the universe from a somewhat similar point of view to that of Blake. "Chapter V" compares Blake’s Jerusalem with Thomas's last poems to establish a correspondence of achieved vision. The comparison is validated, and our argument proceeds to show that, while Thomas was attempting to move in a similar visionary direction to Blake in terms of art, Blake far outstripped the Welsh poet from the point of view of achieved total vision expressed through poetry. Our conclusion follows that, while Thomas, throughout his artistic career, was influenced by Blake and borrowed from him, he found himself at a creative impasse out of which he attempted to work by turning to voice drama in the form of a dramatic and highly imaginative documentary called Under Milk Wood, and even this, his last work, is in some ways reminiscent of Blake's influence. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

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Through an examination of Blake’s idea of Satan and his depiction of Satan and the rebel angels in the Paradise Lost design Satan Rousing his Legions, my thesis will demonstrate four principle findings, in addition to offering a fresh and unconventional interpretation to what is arguably Blake’s most profound depiction of Satan. One result is the demonstration that Blake maintained and developed his idea of Satan as a force of revolutionary energy and paradigm of Creative Imagination throughout his life. Secondly, I will demonstrate that Blake’s employment of, and references to, a punitive, destructive, and materialistic Satan is in fact a personification of the oppressive aspect of the Church and State. My third determination is that Blake’s vision of the Church as the oppressive and repressive tyrant Urizen did not soften as he aged but was steadfastly maintained until his death. And finally, I will establish that Blake did in fact maintain his revolutionary enthusiasm his entire life. / iv, 236 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cm.

William Blake's prophetic works are made up almost entirely of a unique combination of symbols and imagery. To understand his books it is necessary to be aware that he used his prophetic symbols because he found them apt to what he was saying, and that he changed their meanings as the reasons for their aptness changed. An awareness of this manipulation of symbols will lead to a more perceptive understanding of Blake's work. This paper is concerned with three specific uses of serpent imagery by Blake. The first chapter deals with the serpent of selfhood. Blake uses the wingless Uraeon to depict man destroying himself through his own constrictive analytic reasonings unenlightened with divine vision. Man had once possessed this divine vision, but as formal religions and a priestly class began to be formed, he lost it and worshipped only reason and cruelty. Blake also uses the image of the serpent crown to characterize priests or anyone in a position of authority. He usually mocks both religious and temporal rulers and identifies them as oppressors rather than leaders of the people. In addition to the Uraeon and the serpent crown, Blake also uses the narrow constricted body of the serpent and the encircled serpent to represent narrowmindedness and selfish possessiveness. The second chapter deals with the serpent as a symbolic force of energy itself. Blake uses the serpent to represent birth, the life force, guardian of life forces, inner strength, resurrection, forces of destruction, and rebellion against tyranny. The Orc figure, a mythological creation of Blake, is the major representative of all phases of energy. He is a Promethean figure of rebellion and often described by Blake as having a "serpent body." His birth represents the awakening of a terrible, uncontrolled energy which will bring war, destruction, and death. He is an "eternal viper" with "ever-hissing jaws." Blake often uses this rebellious energy to deal with specific political issues in America, Ahania and Tiriel. The "serpent-formed transgressor of God's law" is also in rebellion against the binding, constricting laws of religion, and in a larger sense, against the visionless state into which mankind has fallen. The third chapter considers Blake's use of the serpent and tree image. It is significant that he uses these familiar Christian symbols in various ways which suggest that occult lore and antiquarian mythologies must also be considered in their interpretation. The following five major types of serpent-tree symbolism and Blake's usages are discussed in this chapter: The divine serpent and the tree of life, the serpent as guardian of the tree of life, the serpent as destroyer of the tree of life, the serpent-tempter and the tree of death, and the serpent as an unfaithful messenger of God. It is possible to draw all of these interpretations from Blake's works. By the very diversity of its symbolic associations the serpent provides a unifying factor in Blake. It is in itself a symbol of unity in that it appears consistently in almost all of man's religions and mythologies.

Bibliography: leaves 421-464.

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