Introduction

Every student of William Blake is acquainted with the "Orc cycle," the masterful construction by which Northrop Frye argued that Orc embodies inherent patterns of cyclic repetition. Even before one examines the evidence for the "cycle" in Blake's texts, two characteristics stand out in Frye's system. Blake, in contrast, avoids using emblems as the crown of thorns or the cross in his depictions of Orc. Blake's accent has shifted from showing sexuality as a dynamic force opposed by Satan, to showing it as a constricting force entrapping Satan himself—sexual jealousy rather than sexual joy. Blake has made the snake symbol dual, using it to stand for matching but opposed principles. Blake reworks the snake symbol to show Orc's transformation in one aspect into a repressive force. Contrary to a frequent assumption in Blake criticism, moreover, Orc's appearance as serpent in Jerusalem is not Blake's final reworking of the Orc symbol.