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Unbound from wrath: Orc and Blake's crisis of vision in 'The Four Zoas.' (William Blake)

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From: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900
Date: 19930922
Author:Hobson, Christopher Z.

The character of Orc, who had hitherto been pivotal in Blake's compositions, is overshadowed by the newly constituted character of Los in 'The Four Zoas,' although this does not indicate Blake's rejection of Orc. Orc undergoes transformation to assume a serpentine dimension, while Los is described as a savior. However, Orc, while signifying the demoniac, also represents those who are victimized, thus exemplifying Blake's fusion of the prophetic and the apocalyptic modes to signal the reformation of humanity.

Blake's labor in The Four Zoas can be seen, in one major aspect, as an effort to ...

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