The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Fire is mentioned many times throughout The Marriage. It most commonly symbolizes the creative fire of the poet and prophet, ironically presented as the fires of Hell. Blake presents himself, for example, as “walking among the fires of hell, delighted with the enjoyment of Genius, which to Angels look like torment and insanity” (Plate 6). Fire is thus at the heart of Blake’s inversion of conventional categories. The same idea is presented in Plate 14, where Blake mentions that at the end of the 6,000-year existence of the world, it will be consumed by fire. Once again, however, this is symbolic of the creative fire, which burns away all limitations of perception to reveal the infinite. In Plate 22, Blake sees a Devil in a “flame of fire,” but, of course, this is a Blakean Devil who expounds upon the nature of God as seen through Blake’s eyes.

The surging flames of the Blakean “hell” can also be seen in many of the designs. The title page is an example, as well as Plate 3, where at the top a figure is entirely enveloped in flames (of desire and energy) and is liberated by the experience. The bottom of Plate 4 shows a Devil in flames, reaching out and trying to rescue a child who has been captured by an Angel of conventional morality and restraint.