Satan, Sin, and Death

Title

Satan, Sin, and Death

Student Commentary:

There are three figures in Blake’s image from the Thomas set of his work for Milton’s Paradise Lost (2004 facsimile). Left to right are Satan, Sin, and Death. Sin is the only female character in the image and appears to be struggling to push Death and Satan, who are fighting, away from each other. Sin appears to be only part human; she is surrounded by snakes who obscure her figure from the waist down. Satan is a pale figure who is holding a spear and shield and lunging at Death, while Death appears to be largely transparent and lunges at Satan with a fiery weapon. While this fight is occurring, the room is being engulfed with fire. Blake takes the opportunity to play with dark and light in this image. Even though there is a fire and two of the figures are a bright white, the image still conveys darkness. Part of this effect could be from the subject matter; however, some part is due to the way Blake plays with the bright flames, the pale figure of Satan, and the shimmering aura around Sin, versus the desolate darkness of Death, whose identity is so uncertain. Death is given the ability to be “invisible,” while at the same time he can take on the appearance of anything.

Links:

Detailed View of Image at the William Blake Archive

About this Book

Source

William Blake@Union Digital Collection