SOURCE: "The Context of Blakean Contraries in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," in Essays in Literature, Vol. 21, No. 1, Spring, 1994, pp. 43-53.

In this essay Stewart challenges the usual interpretations of the term "marriage" and explores the importance of the ideas of Behmen (Boehme) as a source for The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.

One of the most problematical aspects of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is the term "marriage." How are we to interpret it? In the biblical context of two becoming one flesh,¹ or in the more modern context of two joined in equal harmony? The statement "Without Contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human Existence" (34), implies that both contraries are important, and therefore, the modern reading of marriage would be the more appropriate. However, throughout the work the heavenly contrary, represented by the angel...