Blake's Jerusalem as visionary theatre : entering the divine body / Susanne M. Sklar.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Sklar, Susanne Marie, 1958-

Series:

• Oxford theological monographs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Blake, William, 1757-1827. Jerusalem.
• Blake, William, 1757-1827--Criticism and interpretation.
• Blake, William, 1757-1827.
• Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xvii, 310 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Other Title:

Blake's Jerusalem as visionary theater

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2011.

Summary:

• William Blake described his illuminated epic Jerusalem as 'the grandest poem that this world contains'. Blake's avowed intention in constructing the work was to move readers from a solely rational way of being (called Ulro) to one that is highly imaginative (called Eden/Eternity), with each word chosen to suit 'the mouth of a true Orator'. Rational interpretation is of limited use when reading this multifaceted epic and its non-linear structure presents aperennial challenge for readers.
• Susanne Sklar engages with the interpretive challenges of Jerusalem by considering it as a piece of visionary theatre-an imaginative performance in which characters, settings, and imagery are not confined by mundane space and time-allowing readers to find coherence within its complexities. With his characters, Blake's readers can participate imaginatively in what Blake calls 'the Divine Body, the Saviour's Kirigdom, a way of being in which all things interconnect: spiritually, ecologically, socially, and erotically.
• Imaginatively engaging with Jerusalem involves close textual reading and analysis. The first part of this book discusses the notion of visionary theatre, and the theological, literary, and historical antecedents of Jerusalem's imagery, characters, and settings. Particular attention is paid to the theological context of Blake's Jesus ('the Divine Body'), and Jerusalem, the heroine of his poem. This prepares the ground for a scene-by-scene commentary of the entire illuminated work. Jerusalem tells the story of Albion's fall, many rescue attempts, escalating violence and oppression, and a surprising apocalypse-in which all living things, awakening, are transfigured in ferocious forgiveness. Book jacket.

Contents:

• Part I Perspectives, Characters, Settings 17
• 1 Visionary Theatre-Apocalyptic Images 19
• Jerusalem and the Book of Revelation 20
• The Book of Revelation and Visionary Theatre 20
• Visionary Musicals? 23
• Alchemical Visionary Theatre 25
• Jacob Boehme-Prophetic Progenitor 28
• Freemasonry and Jerusalem 35
• Sublime Allegory-and Visionary Theatre 40
• Entering Apocalyptic Images 42
• 2 Dramatis Personae 44
• Angelmorphic Characters: The One and the Many 45
• The Characters 49
• Sons and Daughters 50
• Zoas and Emanations 54
• Spectres, Shadows, and Vala 56
• Albion's Antecedents 61
• Our Hero, Los-and the Narrator 63
• 3 Jerusalem: Her Character and Context 67
• Like Christ 67
• The Harlot, the Bride 68
• The Woman Clothed with the Sun 71
• Boehme's Sophia, Blake's Jerusalem 72
• Joanna Southcott, A Woman Clothed with the Sun 75
• Southcott, Sharp, and Pughe 76
• Erotic Spirituality-Southcott and Blake 78
• Visionary Enactments 81
• In Blake's Poem 83
• Her Character and Story 84
• Chapter One 85
• Chapter Two 88
• Chapter Three 90
• Chapter Four 91
• 4 Jerusalem's Jesus 94
• Nature and Function 94
• Jesus's First Appearances 95
• The Frontispiece (Jl) 96
• The Preface (J3) 96
• Scene One (J4) 96
• Visualizing Jesus: Young's Night Thoughts 98
• Coinherent Contraries 101
• Beyond Law: Blake and St Paul 104
• Erotic Spirituality 107
• In the Moravian Church 107
• Swedenborg 111
• Swedenborg's Writings 111
• The Birth of Jesus 113
• Healing Ministry: Raising Albion 114
• Beyond the Trinity 115
• Transfiguring Crucifixion 117
• Creative Apocalypse 119
• 5 Shifting Settings-Building Projects 122
• Shifting Settings 122
• Building Projects 124
• Druid Structures 125
• Antiquarians, Druids, and Freemasons 126
• Urizen's Temple 133
• Golgonooza 134
• Jerusalem: The Transfiguring City 138
• Part II The Commentary 143
• Reading the Poem 145
• 1 'To the Public'-Albion's Fall 149
• Overture: The Preface (1-4) 149
• Opening Scene: Albion Rejects the Divine Song (4-5) 151
• Scene Two: Los and the Spectre (6:1-11:7) 154
• Scene Three: In the Spaces of Erin (11:8-14:34) 158
• Scene Four: Sculpting World Views (15-17) 161
• Scene Five: Hand and Hyle Intensify Fallenness (18-19) 164
• Scene Six: Beulah and the Veil (19:40-25:17) 165
• Interval (26) 169
• Plate 26 170
• 2 'To the Jews'-Rescue Attempts 171
• The Preface (27) 171
• Scene One: Albion's Fall: The Refugee Report (28-30) 173
• Scene Two: The Triumph of Vala (31:2-34:35) 176
• Scene Three: The Divisions of Reuben (34:36-36:42) 179
• Scene Four: Los and the Eternals (36:43-41:31) 181
• Scene Five: The Rescue Attempt (42-6) 185
• Scene Six: Cycles of Violence (47:1-48:12) 191
• Scene Seven: Redemptive Erin, A Terrible Separation (48:13-50:30) 191
• Interval (51) 195
• Plate 51 195
• 3 'To the Deists'-Calamities Amplify 197
• The Preface (52) 197
• Scene One: Intensified Fall, Los Infected! (53:1-58:20) 199
• Scene Two: Urizen's Temple (58:21-59:21) 204
• Scene Three: In Cathedron's Looms (59:22-62:42) 205
• Scene Four: Hermaphrodite Spectre Rising (63:1-65:4) 209
• Scene Five: Naked Daughters, War, Disease (65:5-69:5) 210
• Scene Six: Beulah-Ulro/Heavenly Canaan (69:6-71:55) 213
• Scene Seven: Fallibly Building (71:56-75:27) 216
• Excursus 217
• Interval (76) 221
• Plate 76-Transfiguring Crucifixion 222
• 4 'To the Christians'-The Great Awakening 223
• The Preface (77) 223
• Scene One: Jerusalem Before the Furnaces (78:1-80:36) 225
• Scene Two: Weaving False Bodies (80:37-82:79) 226
• Scene Three: Los on his Watch (82:80-86:49) 229
• Scene Four: Banal Bickering (86:50-88:54) 233
• Scene Five: Apocalyptic Transformation (88:55-93:27) 234
• Scene Six: Albion Awakens (94-9) 240
• Eternal Interval (100) 248
• Curtain Call (Plate 100) 248
• Encore: Into Eternity 251
• Various Eternities 251
• Character Synchronisms 253
• Synchronic Images 255
• From Ulro to Eden 257
• In Conclusion 258.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [261]-289) and index.

ISBN:

• 9780199603145
• 0199603146

OCLC:

709682954