Blake Critics & Context Flashcards
Zachary Leader quote
‘Distanced and calculation, much too knowing to be calculated’
Critic for London
Timothy Vines
Timothy Vines quote
London charges Parliament with perpetuating the wretchedness of the human condition
What did Thomas Paine say about London?
A market where every man knows his place, and corruption is common traffic
How many prostitutes worked in London?
50,000
What percentage of prostitutes is estimated to have had syphilis?
40%
Even who were treated for venereal disease?
Children
What was published in London every year
The List of Covent Garden Ladies
What paid for poor relief?
Local taxes
Who paid taxes to help the poor?
Local parishioners
How many paupers were in workhouses in 1777?
90,000
Why was vagabond a derogatory term?
Parishioners did not want to pay for people passing through
When did the gin craze take place?
The first half of the 18th century
What did the Middlesex magistrates say about the epidemic of drunkenness?
They noted that gin was popular among ‘the inferior set of people’
Context for Holy Thursday (innocence)
Holy Thursday, or ascension day
What took place on ascension day?
The poor children from charity schools went to St. Paul’s cathedral to sing the praises of their benefactors.
Charity schools…?!?!?
Established by wealthy benefactors; there was no national system of education before the 19th century. Some members of the wealthy classes feared that educating the poor would upset the social order.
Holy Thursday (Experience)
Pastoral poetry
What is pastoral poetry?
Pastoral poetry deals with rural life, typically drawing a contrast between the innocence of the countryside and the misery of city life. Often in elegiac form, lamenting the loss of a golden age.
What is anti-pastoral?!?
Anti-pastoral works criticise the artificiality of the pastoral tradition, because it obscures the hardships faced by those in rural areas.
Context for nurse’s songs
Children’s verse