In Adam's room :incarnation of the divine image in Paradise Lost and Jerusalem

Abstract

William Blake, who wrote that Milton loved him in his youth, shared Milton's interest in the concept of incarnation. Both poets uphold the Protestant assertion which entitles each individual to private judgment in matters of conscience. This individualism leads Milton and Blake to unique perceptions of the myths which underlie Paradise Lost and Jerusalem--the myth of Genesis, the fall and redemption of the Sophia, several mystic marriages, including that of Eros and Psyche. Both Milton and Blake are aware that revering the image of God in oneself is essential to salvation; however, Milton perceives a God who is all light, whereas Blake recognizes both light and darkness in divinity. Chapter One of this study examines the tension between reason and desire in the contexts of creation, incarnation, and redemption. In Milton, Man chooses his own Fall, but God is responsible for his redemption; in Blake, Man chooses both the Fall associated with limited perception and the redemptive Last Judgment, which is brought about by surpassing these limits through Vision. Chapter Two presents the opposition of divine and individual will according to the perspective of archetypal psychology, particularly as it is refined in the thought of James Hillman. Milton prefers to subordinate one member of the male/female pair which typically represents the human personality, but Blake would prefer for "contraries" to co-exist with neither dominating the other. Chapter Three considers the myth of Eros and Psyche and the Book of Job as examples of the visionary process of soul-making. In both stories, an alteration of perception produces a marriage of "opposites." Both Blake and Jung treat the Book of Job as the supreme encounter between Man and God. Jung interprets this confrontation as the cause of the Incarnation: God sees his own Shadow and decides to reform himself by becoming a man. In Blake's version, Job is transformed from a self-righteous moralist into a self-forgiving visionary. Such interaction between the mind of God and the mind of Man produces enormous suffering and, ultimately, psychological progress. This is perpetual incarnation--the making of souls.