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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Jerusalem, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Lies and Myths
The Destruction of the Natural World
Authority
The Individual vs. Community
Summary
Analysis
The sound of a drum, accordions, and pipes fill the air. A 15-year-old girl named Phaedra appears, dressed like a fairy. She curtseys and then sings a song about England in ancient times, which emphasizes the country’s beauty and divinity. As she sings, the music around her starts to grow more intense. She sings, “And was Jerusalem builded here, / Among those dark satanic—” and then runs away without finishing the line.
Although Jerusalem is set in modern times, it is deeply invested in the folk and religious histories of England. For instance, the song that Phaedra sings is the hymn Jerusalem by William Blake, from which the play gets its title and its core themes. In the Bible, Jerusalem is Jesus Christ’s city of birth, as well as where he was crucified. Butterworth situates Flintock—the play’s setting—as a sort of modern day Jerusalem with its main character, Johnny Byron, as a modern day Christ figure.
Themes
