2

to me that two opinions appear to sum up the present state of scholarly criticism on the structure of The Four Zoas.

The first, the majority, considers the manuscript to be unfinished. As such the work is thought to have no formal literary structure and represents Blake's intuitive exploration of a world of private, or dream symbolism. To this majority the poem's literary merit lies in its insights into the nature of mind and its many brilliant poetic passages. Although containing consistent thematic or symbolic sequences (David V. Erdman, for example, shows Blake's wide ranging interest in

contemporary political events, while J. Bronowski shows Blake's concern

with the social consequences of the Industrial Revolution ), this opinion argues

that the poem does not contain a systematic mythology.

The second, which would include Northrop Frye among its proponents, agrees that the poem is "plotless" but argues that Blake provides an archetypal or mythological "frame" which allows a "strong sense of narrative movement." To these critics the poem follows that great cycle of primordial unity, fall and division, and subsequent re-unification characteristic of the great myths. To my mind the textual evidence offered by these critics does not sufficiently reveal the extent and grandeur of Blake's conscious craftmanship.

David V. Erdman, Blake: Prophet Against Empire (Princeton:

Princeton University Press, 1969).

4 J. Bronowski, William Blake 1757-1827: A Man Without a Mask

[New York: Haskell House Publishers Ltd. Publishers of scarce scholarly books New York, 1967).

» Northrop Frye, "The Road of Excess," Myth and Symbol (Nebraska:

University of Nebraska Press, 196^, pp. 5-6.