Critical Symmetry: William Blake's Influence on the Critical Theories of Northrop Frye

Date of Graduation

Summer 1993

Degree

Master of Arts in English

Department

English

Committee Chair

Mark Smith

Abstract

Northrop Frye's Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake (1947) ushered in a new era of Blake studies. This thesis examines the influence of Blake's poetry, criticism, and thought on Frye's critical theories as expounded in Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays (1957) and subsequent works. Two generations of scholars have read Blake through Frye in an effort to understand Blakes's prophetic poetry. This thesis concludes that scholars who read Frye through Blake will better understand the intellectual backgroud of Frye's critical theories.

Subject Categories

English Language and Literature

Copyright

© Dean A Hinnen

Citation-only

Dissertation/Thesis

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