Enitharmon is a major female character in William Blake's mythology , playing a main part in some of his prophetic books . She is, but not directly, an aspect of the male Urthona , one of the Four Zoas . She is in fact the Emanation of Los , also male. There is a complex verbal nexus attached. The Zoa Tharmas has emanation Enion , and Eni-tharm(as)-on is one derivation of her name. That should perhaps be read in the inverse direction though, as a construction of the Tharmas/Enion pair's names. Within Blake's myth, she represents female domination and sexual restraints that limit the artistic imagination. She, with Los, gives birth to various children, including Orc .
37-491: It is possible that the character Enitharmon was based on Blake's wife, Catherine Blake . In a letter from Blake to his friend Thomas Butts , Jr. on 22 November 1802, he claimed that his place at Surrey had "Enitharmon's bower". S. Foster Damon explained the name Enitharmon as a derivation or an elision of (z)enit(h)-harmon(y). This is to be read in the light of the mirrored name Los ( Sol = Sun in Latin). He also suggested that
74-500: A Prophecy , which compares her rule in regards to the fall of Christian culture. Through her, oracles and the Olympian gods are brought back. The bulk of the work is devoted to Enitharmon's domination of the material world and puts forth various sexual rules through religion. Blake describes how these rules are errors found in orthodox Christianity. The Book of Urizen describes how Los's pity, Enitharmon, separated from him and became
111-440: A barrier to protect himself from eternity: And a roof, vast petrific around, On all sides He fram'd: like a womb; ... Like a human heart struggling & beating The vast world of Urizen appear'd. He is chained by Los, the prophet, from whom Urizen had been rent: In chains of the mind locked up, Like fetters of ice shrinking together, Disorganiz'd, rent from Eternity. Los beat on his fetters of iron Los forges
148-495: A book of brass that are a combination of Newton, the laws of Moses , and deism that force uniformity. The rest of the Eternals in turn become indignant at Urizen's turning against eternity, and they establish the essence of the sins within living beings. This torments Urizen, who falls into a sleep, which allows Los to appear. Los' duty within the work is to watch over Urizen, and Urizen is seen as an eternal priest while Los takes
185-497: A housekeeper. At this period she continued to sell Blake's works. When she died four years later, Tatham claimed that she had bequeathed all of Blake's works to him. When he later converted to Irvingite beliefs, he destroyed a number of them, asserting that they were inspired by the devil. Catherine and William are buried at Bunhill Cemetery in London. Throughout her husband's uneven career, Catherine not only took an active role in
222-580: A human image for Urizen in the course of seven ages but pities him and weeps. From these tears Enitharmon is created, who soon bears the child of Los, Orc. Orc's infant cries awaken Urizen, who begins to survey and measure the world he has created. Urizen explores his world and witnesses the birth of his four sons, who represent the four classical elements. From these experiences Urizen's hopes are crushed: And his soul sicken'd! he curs'd Both sons & daughters: for he saw That no flesh nor spirit could keep His iron laws one moment. In response, he creates
259-477: A major role in The Book of Ahania , published in 1795. In autumn 1790 Blake moved to Lambeth in south London. In the studio of his new house he wrote what became known as his "Lambeth Books", which included The Book of Urizen . In all these books, Blake completed their design composition, their printing and colouring, and their sales from that house. Blake included early sketches for The Book of Urizen in
296-469: A natural cycle within Blake's myth, there is a repeating image of an Old Woman, who is represented by Rahab , Enitharmon, or Vala based on which part of the cycles are being discussed. Enitharmon represents what Los is trying to create, and he cannot have Enitharmon until he is able to complete his duty. In her connection to space, she represents the psychological aspects of unbound space upon the mind. Unlike
333-453: A notebook containing images created between 1790 and 1793. The Book of Urizen was one of the few works that Blake describes as " illuminated printing", one of his colour printed works with the coloured ink being placed on the copperplate before the page was printed. The Book of Urizen was printed from 1794 until 1818 and was larger than his America, A Prophecy . Only eight copies of the work survive, with many variations between them of
370-419: A very happy relationship. In 1802, William Hayley wrote that William "and his excellent wife (a true helpmate!) pass the plates thro' a rolling press in their cottage together". On his deathbed, Blake drew a picture of Catherine as his last work, stating "you have ever been an angel to me". After her husband's death, Catherine was taken in by Blake's admirer Frederick Tatham , for whom she nominally worked as
407-785: A visit by Thomas Paine to the Lambeth home of William and Catherine Blake in 1789. It was first performed at the East Dulwich Tavern in July 1989. The play was later adapted for television in the BBC Two Encounters series (which featured similar fictionalized meetings between historical figures) and was first broadcast on 4 July 1993. It was directed by Sebastian Graham-Jones and featured Mark Rylance as William, Bob Peck as Paine, and Lesley Clare O'Neill as Catherine. The Book of Urizen The Book of Urizen
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#1732775391744444-474: A web of religion, which serve as chains to the mind. The Book of Urizen is a creation myth that is similar to the Book of Genesis. Blake's myth surrounding Urizen is found in many of his works and can trace back to his experiments in writing myths about a god of reason in the 1780s, including in "To Winter". In the work, Urizen is an eternal self-focused being who creates himself out of eternity. This creation
481-416: Is Urizen, a blind exile who was kept from eternity and who establishes a world that he could rule. As such, he creates laws: Laws of peace, of love, of unity; Of pity, compassion, forgiveness. Let each chuse one habitation: His ancient infinite mansion: One command, one joy, one desire, One curse, one weight, one measure One King, one God, one Law. However, Urizen suffers a fall when he creates
518-557: Is one of the major prophetic books of the English writer William Blake , illustrated by Blake's own plates . It was originally published as The First Book of Urizen in 1794. Later editions dropped the "First". The book takes its name from the character Urizen in Blake's mythology , who represents alienated reason as the source of oppression . The book describes Urizen as the "primeaval priest" and narrates how he became separated from
555-536: Is presented as a model wife. In more recent literature, she is the central character in Janet Adele Warner 's novel Other Sorrows, Other Joys: The Marriage of Catherine Sophia Boucher and William Blake (2001) and also features in Tracy Chevalier 's novel Burning Bright (2007). She is an amateur detective in short stories by Keith Heller . Jack Shepherd 's stage play In Lambeth dramatised
592-476: Is taken up again in The Four Zoas with a primal man, Albion , being the original form. In this work, it is only Urizen, the representation of abstractions and is an abstraction of the human self. From himself he first divides unknown shapes that begin to torment him. He also turns against the other Eternals and believes himself holy. In contemplating himself, he is able to discover sins and records them in
629-482: Is usually attributed to some of the more clumsily rendered passages. Her work as a printer is held in higher regard. It has often been suggested that the figure of Enitharmon in Blake's mythology is partly inspired by Catherine. Enitharmon is the wife of the "eternal prophet" Los in Blake's writings. Catherine is explicitly identified as the poet's "shadow of delight" in the second part of Blake's Milton . In William Hayley's writings on ideal marriages, Catherine
666-459: The Greek anarithmon or "numberless" as another possible starting point for the name. Urthona is "earth-owner". Enitharmon is not therefore a simplistic Earth Goddess , but is also not disconnected from that role. Her name can also be broken down to form the names of her two material parents, Enion and Tharmas . Enitharmon represents spiritual beauty and poetic inspiration. She is symbolised by
703-525: The Queen of Heaven, who represents feminine rule and the glass is of materialism. She also appears as an illustration in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell . Catherine Blake (wife of William Blake) Catherine Blake (née Boucher ; 25 April 1762 – 18 October 1831) was the wife of the poet, painter, and engraver William Blake , and a vital presence and assistant throughout his life. Catherine
740-467: The early years of the relationship. However, Algernon Charles Swinburne later explicitly asserted that this was the case, but that Blake dropped the idea when he saw that it upset Catherine. No documentary evidence survives supporting this notion, but Blake is known to have stated that he "learned from the Bible that wives should be held in common." Writers who knew the couple in their later years describe
777-763: The failure of an earlier relationship. Their courtship was brief. According to early biographers of Blake, Catherine immediately recognized him as her future husband, and when she sympathized with him over his earlier emotional troubles, he replied, "Do you pity me? Then I love you." Blake married Catherine – who was five years his junior – on 18 August 1782 in St. Mary's Church, Battersea . Illiterate, Catherine signed her wedding contract with an 'X' "like many brides of her day", there being "no national schools... and even regular Sunday schools had not been invented". They remained together until he died in 1827. Blake taught her to read and write and to use his printing-press . She
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#1732775391744814-542: The fallen state that began from this. She is married to Los, and through their marriage Orc, the representation of revolution, is born. This symbolises the relationship between art and revolution. Los, however, grows jealous of Orc and chains him to a mountain. Enitharmon tries to intervene but Los is unable to release Orc. Following Orc, Enitharmon gives birth to many children. Of these, Satan , John Milton , and Mary are described as her children. Enitharmon appears in Europe
851-457: The first female after Los created a form for Urizen. In Vala, or The Four Zoas , she is similar to eve and she is the tempter of Los/Adam. The work also describes the connection of poetic instinct and sexuality, along with pointing out how she and her daughters are able to create various things, such as a body for various Spectres to be created. Milton a Poem describes how Enitharmon gave birth to many children, which included Milton himself. In
888-521: The last stage, war is the ultimate result of sexual repression . This war is connected to general war and to energy as a whole. Sex is supposed to lead to imagination and love. Love is supposed to leave one to a higher state, and the perversion of sexuality, in Blake's view, leads to destruction. The Female Will is born from an object of affection refusing to give up its independence, and the concept represents what prohibits an individual from being able to have true vision. Under Eitharmon's rule, representing
925-536: The latter are removed in The Four Zoas . In the beginning is the fall of Urizen, the Satanic force, in a similar way to Milton's Satan. Creation, however, was the fall. Urizen is the representation of abstraction, which is a passive and mental force disconnected from reality. Los, in the fallen world, enters the world as the fire of imaginative energy. However, he too falls and becomes mechanical and regular. Los
962-546: The moon and she is characterised by Pity. With Los, she is connected to the North in that they were from Urthona, who dominates there. As poetic instinct, Enitharmon is represented as being born of the sexual problems that happen during puberty. She rules as the Queen of Heaven in Blake's works. In Enitharmon's connection to Urthona, who is represented by the loins, she is a goddess that represents what cannot be found within nature. In
999-467: The other Emanations, she is not a shade of a divine form, but serves as a material wife of Los as well as his Emanation. Blake's early myth describes how she was born after Los gave a material form to Urizen , and she was born as the first female. In his later myth, the sight of Enitharmon's birth caused Urthona to fall and be born from Enion . In that version, both Los and Enitharmon spring from Enion. After her birth, Enitharmon declares that women will rule
1036-562: The other Eternals to create his own alienated and enslaving realm of religious dogma . Los and Enitharmon create a space within Urizen's fallen universe to give birth to their son Orc , the spirit of revolution and freedom. In form the book is a parody of the Book of Genesis . Urizen's first four sons are Thiriel , Utha , Grodna and Fuzon (respectively elemental Air, Water, Earth, Fire, according to Chapter VIII). The last of these plays
1073-483: The plate orders and the number of plates. All the surviving copies were colour-printed. The story deals with a struggle within the divine mind to establish and define both itself and the universe. It is a creation myth that begins before creation: Earth was not: nor globes of attraction The will of the Immortal expanded Or contracted his all flexible senses. Death was not, but eternal life sprung The creator
1110-479: The position of eternal prophet. Parts of the story were later revised in The Book of Los and The Book of Ahania , two experimental works. The focus on Urizen emphasises the chains of reason that are imposed on the mind. Urizen, like mankind, is bound by these chains. The point of both The Book of Urizen and the retelling in The Book of Los is to describe how Newtonian reason and the enlightenment view of
1147-427: The production of William's engravings and illuminated books; she also ran the household finances and offered strong practical support. William's friend J. T. Smith said that Blake "allowed her, to the last moment of his practice, to take off his proof impressions and print his works, which she did most carefully." Catherine's role in colouring at least some of William's illuminated books has been wide, although her hand
Enitharmon - Misplaced Pages Continue
1184-554: The rule of the Female Will, leads to Los and Enitharmon entering into a constant state of strife with each other. However, the conflict also leads to Los pursuing her and the two procreating. Urizen is able to take advantage of the struggling between the two by tempting them with the ability to judge Luvah and Vala. This causes both of them to lose the last bit of their innocence. Their union was thereafter filled with both envy and jealousy. Their union also causes Enion to lament over
1221-605: The universe combine to trap the human imagination. In the Newtonian belief the material universe is connected through an unconscious power which, in turn, characterises imagination and intellect as accidental aspects that result from this. Additionally, imagination and intelligence are secondary to force. This early version of a " survival of the fittest " universe is connected to a fallen world of tyranny and murder in Blake's view. The poem portrays Orc and his three-stage cycle, whose stages are connected to historical events, although
1258-603: The work, she is described as being connected to Space while Los is connected to Time. In Jerusalem The Emanation of the Giant Albion , she is connected to poetry, and she realizes that she must eventually vanish in the end. Enitharmon is described as having a Looking Glass, which reflects the Eternal world in the Material world. This image appears in the 99th illustration of Blake's to the works of Dante . The design shows
1295-505: The world, with Man being given Love and Women being given Pride. This would create within men a fear of female dominance that would in turn bring them under control of the females. In her sexual system, there are four parts: Manathu-Varcyon (desire), Antamon (sperm), Theotormon (frustration), and finally Sotha (war). These are represented by sexual desire being contained to Ethinthus (body), which leads to Leutha (guilt), followed by Oothoon (frustration) and ends with Thiralatha (erotic dreams). In
1332-501: Was considered to be the foundation of Blake's "invariable type of woman" as depicted in his art, "tall, slender, and with unusually long legs". The couple did not have children, and it has been suggested that Blake wanted to bring a concubine into the relationship to act as a surrogate mother, which was consistent with the theories of Swedenborgianism by which Blake was influenced. Blake's earliest biographer Alexander Gilchrist does not mention this but speaks of unspecified troubles in
1369-472: Was the last child of market gardener William Boucher (1714–1794) and Mary Davis (1716–1782). A "demure young woman" in response to her mother's queries regarding which of her acquaintances she would take for a husband, she would reply that she had not yet met such a man. She met William Blake in Battersea in 1781, during his brief visit to the area, while he was recovering from an emotional upset following
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