Authority and Vision: William Blake's Use of the Gospels

Abstract

The purpose of this paper will be to clarify the treatment of authority and figures of authority throughout Blake's work by examining it within the context of his reading of the New Testament, and, in particular, of the Gospels. Depending on their attitude towards his work, critics celebrate or lament its imposing originality, but often lose sight of the fact that nothing of genius is ever concocted by an individual out of a vacuum, and that Blake not only insists that the Bible is 'The Great Code of Art,' but echoes, comments upon, alludes to, parodies, or quotes Scripture in practically every passage he ever wrote. It has now been over forty years since Northrop Frye, relying heavily upon Blake's use of the Bible, magisterially demonstrated the consistency of the logic underlying Blake's treatment of metaphor and narrative, along with the essential coherence of Blake's poetic thought. In doing so Frye made clear the connection between the radical messianism that Blake derived from his reading of the Bible, and his faith in the redemptive capacities of art and vision. Given the extent to which virtually all of Blake's subsequent critics acknowledge their debt to Fearful Symmetry, it is difficult to explain why the explosion of Blake criticism that has continued since this book includes relatively few important works devoted to Blake's use of the Bible. One area that remains largely unexplored, and which becomes substantially clarified when examined within the context of Blake's reading of the New Testament, and, in particular, of the Gospels, involves the treatment of authority and authority figures throughout his work. Included here is the pervasive conflict between spiritual and temporal forms of authority upon which so much of his poetry is structured, together with the relationship, in turn, of these antithetical forms of authority to different modes of perception.