Context Flashcards
Why is Blakes position as a romantic poet complicated?
-Wasn’t part of the grouping of Romantic poets in his life time - didn’t know them.
-Blake wasn’t well know in his life time - didn’t gain much recognition.
-Marginal romantic poet
-He did address concerns vital and important to his own time - was deeply influenced by his own time.
-Different background to the other Romantic poets, didn’t go to university – lack of institutionalized education.
What was Blakes interest in industrialisation?
-Blake early critic on industrialisation.
-Particular focus on the effects of labour on the human body.
-Seen as a forerunner of ideas of Marx - and the effect labour has on people. (e.g. distortion of body of chimney sweep, abuse of body of prostitute, destruction of body of soldier.)
-This way critiques industrialisation and the society he lives in.
-Industrialisation - a period with an increase in mills/factories/pollution - everything was sold and determined by economics - people included (reification).
What was Blakes Interest in empire and revolution?
-Interest in empire, revolution and resistance to empire.
-Interest in war of independence in America - as an attempt to throw off the shackles of empire.
-Lived during the French revolution 1789 (the year innocence was released) - Blakes was troubled by the responses to it in England and by reactionary powers in Europe.
What was Blakes interest in Education?
-Education and Cultivation of the young.
-Songs of Innocence and experience for children to some extent.
-Interested in formation and development of the mind.
-John Locke - Rousseau - Rival theories of education of young - great interest of writers in the period.
Criticised institutionalised education, saw it as confining and restrictive for a young child’s development. As seen in the schoolboy.
-interested in children’s innate capacity with for play, pushing the boundaries of constraint and conservative education
– against the Christian idea of original sin.
What were Blakes other talents?
-Engraver, illuminator and illustrator.
-For songs of innocence and experience announces himself as author and printer.
Blake and christianity
-Very distinctive version of christianity.
-Came from a dissenting family - did not subscribe to state religion of England.
-Highly innovative, novel and singular version of christianity.
-Blake is an important theological thinker.
-Also takes the bible as a crucial poetic inspiration.
-Thinks of Bible as a great poetic work ‘Sublime of the Bible’.
-See’s visions of angels over Peckham Rye at age of 8.
Blakes attitudes to nature?
-Typical romantic period view - celebrates nature - its the centre of its poetry.
-True of Blake in some aspects.
-Blake is critical and circumspect to about what he says about nature.
-When annotating Wordsworth - says nature actually closes up imagination of human beings - unlike romantic view.
Blakes rejection of the notion of system?
-associated it with rationalism and the ‘unholy trinity’ - Newton, Bacon and Locke.
-rejected their work on grounds of its reliance on reason, science and moral law.
-However had an eye for seeing systems (London)
-Called this fourfold vision - seeing things all in their interrelations - in their total context.
-refusing to compartmentalise - asserting everything is connected together.
-E.g. pains and perils everyday life - cannot be separated from humanities aspirations and desire.
-poverty of many cannot be separated from prosperity of few.
Example of the discrimination faced by non-conformist religious groups
Could not enter into the Church of England unless an Anglican (member of the Church of England.) Institutionalised religion had become a place of hostility and cold-heartedness rather than charity and kindness, as seen in Holy Thursday experience, “fed by cold and userous hand” and The Garden of Love “ The gates of this. chapel were shut”
Blake on the Church of England
- Blake saw institutionalised religion as oppressive, restrictive and controlling
- criticised the way the church curtailed sexual freedom, creating shame and guilt out of something perfectly harmless and natural.
-Criticised the hypocrisy of the church - supposedly care for the needy - however turn a blind eye on child exploitation.
-Their methods of control and punishment are antithetical to the love they preach.
Monarchy and Blakes view on monarchy?
-Monarchy rule in England.
-Imperialism of the British Monarchy - waging wars as part of colonisation.
-Blake radically attacks the monarchy and imperialism.
-sympathetic to french revolution, need social reform in UK, perhaps revolution neccessary.
Child labor
-Industrial revolution - distinction not made between children and adults when it came to work.
-Exploitation of children who were sold into child labour.
-Child labor - often in the form of chimney sweeps.
-Chimney Sweeps as young as 4 or 5, not expected to live past 14.
-Dangerous, potentially fatal working conditions - developed respiratory problems, deformities and burns.
Religious indoctrination
-The teachings of the church are internalised by the people, and promises of better after life used to keep people satisfied with their oppression and misery.
-sermon on the mount ‘The more you suffer, the closer you are to god.’
-Lets society absolve guilt and responsibility for their exploitation of children.
What is ‘Innocence’ to blake?
-See’s innocent as a developing stage, we develop our identity through openness and interaction with other, when not constrained by other forces.
-E.g. poems about naming, naming is shown as an interaction between mother and child – openness.
-Childhood innocence
-There is a tradition of writing poetry for children of a didactic form – telling them to be good.
-Titles of poems have children in.
-Avoids didactic idea – that the purpose of a song for a child is into teaching them to be good in Blakes.
-mocks didactic nursery rhymes, e.g in a chimney sweep “if all do their duty they need not fear harm” and holy thrusday “ then cherish pity lest you drive an angel from your door.” protesting agains the use of nursery rhymes to indoctrinate young children during developmental stage opf innocence with corrupt morals of church used to keep children in state of false consciousness
Blake on Paradise
-Blake views creativity as paradise and the ultimate state of humanity.
-Hie wife said ‘I have very little of the company of Mr Blake, he is always in paradise’.
-Blake does not view paradise as something other worldly, believes it can be found in this world by opening the eye of the imagination.
