London Flashcards
Key Idea
Suffering is never-ending and impacts all for one, it will remain for as long as people are willing to take action to remove it and they cannot escape because they will not act – Achilles and the turtle paradox where no matter how much change they make it is never enough to overtake Achilles because nobody will act
Context
William Blake was a romantic explores the authoritarian abuses of power in the power in one of the most arguably powerful capitals, London, - wanted the readers to improve, huge social divide at the time.
‘I wander through each chartered street near where the chartered Thames does flow’
Displays the belief that they will never have free will, the futility of free will , everything is owned and controlled by the wealthy and even if they believe they are making change, it is all controlled by the monstrous sovereignty. - A slave to freedom
‘Every black’ning church appalls’
Black’ning can have a dual meaning representing the filthy pollution of the soot and smoke produced by the industrial revolution and it also represents the negative connotations of the church and the corruptness and the belief of God is twisted and manipulated and tarnished into falsely controlling the masses
‘plagues the marriage hearse’
Oxymoron and juxtaposition of new beginnings of joy and happiness alongside the end of life and grief of a hearse, indicated the futility of life as everybody gets married, sealing their fate under this misled God.
