Archetypes In William Blake Essay

Blake’s Visions on Social Ills

(analysis of William Blake’s use of archetypes in the four poems we studied)

There are many social errors all around us. From the misuse of social media, to the perception of idolizing the lives of celebrities. We are blindsided by the luxury of money and fame, that we forget the small joys in nature and life. William Blake noticed these same misperceptions and strove to break the social norm in literature. He stated, “I must create a system or be enslaved by another man’s.” Blake worked to stray from common thought and experience by claiming that mystical visions inspired his works or poetry and art work. William Blake uses archetypes in his poems The Lamb, The Tyger, The Chimney Sweeper, and Infant Sorrow,

Blake paired these two poems together. Just in the titles, the reader can observe the opposites of the animals used for the titles. A lamb signifies that of chastity, purity and naiveness. In fact, this poem was put in Blake’s Songs of Innocence, whereas, The Tyger was placed in Songs of Experience. These two writings show some of the differences between innocence and experience. For example, in The Lamb Blake asks the question, Little Lamb who made thee dost thou know who made thee.” (lines 1-2) The same question is asked in The Tyger, however, in a much different manner. “What immortal hand or eye, could frame thy symmetry?” (lines 3-4) Blake uses the lamb to establish the connection of the natural world and human world with religion. These types of ideas demonstrate that of pastoral life. On the other hand, The Tyger, depicts a different type of life; one that is powerful, and sometimes greedy. However, both of these animals share characteristics that one another need for

Blake takes the character of a little boy that has been sold into the work of chimney sweeping. The child’s mother died at a young age, thus forcing his father to sell him for a small profit. The child then tells the story of a young boy named Tom Dacre, who had a dream about dying and going to heaven, where God took care of him. This dream gave the boy hope and therefore he worked hard to clean the chimneys so that he could go to heaven one day. This poem takes its place in the Songs of Innocence as explained by these lines, “Tho’ the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm, so if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.” (lines 23-24) The children had to work in horrible conditions and they weren’t expected to live very long. In Trey Brown's article, Industrial hygiene 101: protecting health & reputations, he states, “In 18th century England, Percival Pott, as a result of his findings on the insidious effects of soot on chimney sweepers, was a major force in getting the British Parliament to pass the Chimney-Sweepers Act of 1788.” Blake noticed these awful work conditions and wrote this poem to try and bring attention to the indecent acts of child