The Marriage of Desire and Self-deception

The Marriage of Desire and Self-deception puts William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell in the context in which Blake intended it to be read. Going by the text, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is written specifically to attack biblical truths and replace them with what Blakean mythology considers to be truth as it is understood in Hell. Bertrand’s Marriage may sound destructive but, then, the very nature of the work on which he comments is destructive. Blake clearly states that he is on the side of the Devil in the on-going battle against God of the Bible and all that He stands for, and the imaginative construct in his hand is a weapon of his choice. Therefore, if a person is dealing with Blake, he is bound to take sides. He can never sit on the fence. And if he does not sit on the fence, one of the sides is bound to be offended. Bertrand is on the side of God and, therefore, opposition is bound to take offence at the way he answers each thrust with his parries. He presents the biblical side of the story in extremely insightful manner. At the same time, based on the text, he quite logically explains what, exactly, the diabolical truth is. It puts the readers in a position of advantage from where they can clearly see the two opposites at war and decide for themselves which one is winning and which losing. That’s what is going to make this book extremely interesting for its readers.