William Blakes The Marriage of Heaven and Hell - Essay Example

William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is one of his most influential works. Many people have written and done many sorts of literature (like Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception and CS Lewis’ The Great Divorce) and music, particularly rock. It is quite fascinating as it talks about the relationship between Heaven and Hell; the dynamics of the relationship between these two places, and how one is as important as another. Blake depicts Hell as an energetic place where one can express oneself as opposed to Heaven’s repressed and quiet presentation. Blake described Heaven as such to demonstrate the nature of mainstream morality as commanded by religion whereas he describes Hell as a place where one can exercise thought as it is provocative and paradoxical.

One of the most famous sections of the essay is the last part of it, Plate 14. It contains the line “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear infinite”. There are many interpretations of this line but the most plausible is that Blake hopes that humanity can see things clearly once the “doors of perception”, or the mind, are cleared – presumably of the restrictive teachings of religion.
On Plate 14 of “Marriage”, Blake shows that he is in a printing press in Hell and he is using the acid technique to write. Acids symbolically represent honesty, as they remove artifice and falsehood. This reminds the reader of the saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword” as the acids, in writing, represent honesty and it can shed light on the more important stuff, or in this case, cleans the doors of perception so that humankind could see well and provoke and question the real nature of religion. He wants humanity to be awakened from the stupor that engaged Man in Religion. These acids represent his hopes for humanity; about humanity’s hope for change and the willingness to uncover the truth.
This Plate offers a great metaphor for humanity, as the man himself has shielded himself from the truths that he knows would hurt himself, limiting his knowledge and perceptions. It should be noted that Blake’s setting in this piece was the Cave, a place of darkness, symbolizing ignorance. This literary piece can cement Blake’s image as an existentialist.
This is also reflected in Blake’s rendition of the Book of Job. Blake identified with Job as he was impoverished and unrecognized when he was still living. Like Job, he was suffering. Like Job, he was unrecognized and rejected. However, this is considered as Blake’s most important work, especially his engravings. Read More