London

Question 1

London context- feminism

Answer 1

Educated his wife. showing how he stood against oppressing women and supported equality.

Question 2

‘London’ Title
(2 ideas)

Answer 2

massive place used = to show massive issues
very powerful city with lots of influence (blake was trying to have a lot of influence)

Question 3

in which era did blake write London, and why is this significant

Answer 3

Romantic era- Anti-monarchist and advocated for change
used his poetry to instigate this change

Question 4

Blake- London’s personal significance

Answer 4

lived in london for the majority of his life and saw it as corrupted by greed and inequality

Question 5

Blake- context- the church

Answer 5

identified as a christian, but rejected organised religion and the established church as he saw it as corrupt

Question 6

structure, rhyme scheme ) significance. What do they contrast?

Answer 6

simplistic structure, 4 regular quatrains following an alternate rhyme scheme
- this contrasts the complex, seeemingly unending issues that he addresses in the poem

Question 7

what could the cyclical structure (of the impact of societal power) suggest

Answer 7

the never ending cycle of suffering and unending issues faced by the people of london

Question 8

broken iambic tetrameter

Answer 8

suggests that blake represents the few opportunities members of georgian society have to break free through small inconsistencies

Question 9

first letters of 3rd stanza spell out…

Answer 9

HEAR- shows auditory signs of suffering, OR that blake is urging people to listen to him, as well as the suffering around them

Question 10

‘marriage hearse’

Answer 10

juxtaposition
societal criticism- marriage was like death for women- showing the typical oppression against women

Question 11

repetition of ‘chartered’
‘each chartered street’
‘the chartered Thames does flow’

Answer 11

referring to a legislation passed in the 1700s giving common land to the wealthy for ownership

Question 12

‘chartered Thames does flow’

Answer 12

juxtaposition between ‘chartered’ and ‘flow’
suggests the oppression by humans is to such an extent that even nature is being oppressed

Question 13

‘every blackening church appals’

Answer 13

literal- acknowledgement of soot and smoke polluting london due to industry
suggests moral ‘blackening’ of the church
connotations of immorality (juxtaposition)

Question 14

‘marks of weakness, marks of woe’

Answer 14

breaks iambic tetrameter
(shows a sign of hope, possibly foreshadowing a revolution)
marks- visible signs of suffering, people are physically and emotionally worn down by their circumstances