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Thesis about london by william blake
Thesis about london by william blake
How does william blake present his ideas of london
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In "London", William Blake brings to light a city overrun by poverty and hardship. Blake discards the common, glorifying view of London and replaces it with his idea of truth. London is nothing more but a city strapped by harsh economic times where Royalty and other venues of power have allowed morality and goodness to deteriorate so that suffering and poverty are all that exist. It is with the use of three distinct metaphors; "mind-forg'd manacles", "blackning Church", and "Marriage hearse", that Blake conveys the idea of a city that suffers from physical and psychological imprisonment, social oppression, and an unraveling moral society.
According to William Richey the phrase "mind-forg'd manacles" has two contributors, the oppressors and the victims (1). Both contributors help set and reinforce the psychological distress and sense of entrapment each citizen of "London" suffers from. The oppressors are presented as disease, Royalty, the Church, and the state of London. The victims are presented as soldiers, harlots, infants, and older children (Richey 1).
The location of the poem contributes greatly to each citizen's frame of mind because surroundings influence how people react in their environment. "London" is described as confined, creating the illusion that the citizens are trapped in their misery. "I wander thro' each charter'd street, / Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,..." During Blake's time, the word "charter'd" carried the denotative definition of restriction and confinement creating an image of a city that only allows limited movement and freedom. The repetition of the word "charter'd" emphasizes how cramped the city is. Even a river, a part of nature known to be free, is kept imprisoned and res...
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...tes the idea of social oppression because of the different connotative meanings the word "blackning" implies. Most powerful is the argument that the Church blackens and defames the idea of faith and goodness to promote the continuation of child labor, poverty, and suffering. Walter Minot brings to light the numerous interpretations of the phrase "Marriage hearse" and how they contribute to the idea of an unraveling society. Each denotation of hearse helped create the picture of an unraveling society where promiscuity and sexually transmitted diseases brought about the end of marriage, a very powerful form of faith and rebirth. In conclusion, the metaphors employed by Blake create and reinforce the image of a city that was not full of life and happiness but a city stricken by social oppression, psychological and physical imprisonment, and an unraveling moral society.
With each step, he yearned for the concrete world to dissolve. Every man who passed wore a mask of disdain, mirroring Blake’s own, while resentful eyes trailed along the cobbled pathways, searching for answers to the unanswerable. The alleyways of London, once brimming with character, forlornly watched the people who no longer had any desire to stand still. Instead, the ceaselessness of noise mirrored the ceaselessness of life and, as Blake stood, the seed which once had flourished within his being seemed to wither away, while his sprit wrestled and writhed, yearning for liberation from the concrete cell of London. The Thames flowed beneath him, almost mocking the finite world through its infinite liberation. A young boy stood nearby, gazing towards him with an eerie blankness in his eyes, and yet the two eyes, black as i...
The theme of authority is possibly the most important theme and the most popular theme concerning William Blake’s poetry. Blake explores authority in a variety of different ways particularly through religion, education and God. Blake was profoundly concerned with the concept of social justice. He was also profoundly a religious man. His dissenting background led him to view the power structures and legalism that surrounded religious establishments with distrust. He saw these as unwarranted controls over the freedom of the individual and contrary to the nature of a God of liberty. Figures such as the school master in the ‘schoolboy’, the parents in the ‘chimney sweeper’ poems, the guardians of the poor in the ‘Holy Thursday’, Ona’s father in ‘A Little girl lost’ and the priestly representatives of organised religion in many of the poems, are for Blake the embodiment of evil restriction.
Through vivid yet subtle symbols, the author weaves a complex web with which to showcase the narrator's oppressive upbringing. Two literary
The theme of the suffering innocent person, dying and being diseased, throws a dark light onto the London seen through the eyes of William Blake. He shows us his experiences, fears and hopes with passionate images and metaphors creating a sensibility against oppression hypocrisy. His words come alive and ask for changes in society, government and church. But they remind us also that the continued renewal of society begins with new ideas, imagination and new works in every area of human experience.
Blake had an uncanny ability to use his work to illustrate the unpleasant and often painful realities around him. His poetry consistently embodies an attitude of revolt against the abuse of class and power that appears guided by a unique brand of spirituality. His spiritual beliefs reached outside the boundaries of religious elites loyal to the monarchy. “He was inspired by dissident religious ideas rooted in the thinking of the most radical opponents of the monarchy during the English Civil War “(E. P. Thompson). Concern with war and the blighting effects of the industrial revolution were displayed in much of his work.
angered him and inspired him to convey his ideas and feelings through the poem 'London'. In the poem, Blake travels through London and describes what he sees. And as a result, he sees a severely oppressed society that is caused by the authority, such as royalty, and the church. This is as Blake sees. that even the streets and the thames are 'chartered' and governed.
poem is about only a small snapshot of the city, when it is very quiet
...en with gonorrhea and other diseases, which blinded the newborn babies (Damon, 1965) Hence the diction ?Blast the new-born Infants tear?. The poem reaches its climax as the speaker exposes the infants who were born into poverty. When Blake uses the contradicting phrase ?Marriage hearse? in the last line it is significant because he combines something good with something bad (Lambert Jr., 1995) Blake proposes the possibility that as long as powerful institutions corrupt society, marriage is always cursed. Even though the joy of a new life is present, the fact that the child is born into a corrupt and evil society is discouraging. Blake suggests to the reader that until there is change this loop will continue.
The poems ‘lines composed on Westminster Bridge’ and ‘London’ are created by William Wordsworth and William Blake respectively. Wordsworth’s work originated in the eighteenth century and he himself lived in the countryside, and rarely visited large cities such as London. This is reflected on his poem, making it personal to his experience in London, however William Blake on the other hand had a vast knowledge of London and was actually a London poet, which allowed him to express his views of London from a Londoner’s point of view. I therefore will be examining comparisons in both poems, as well as their contrasting views of London and the poetic devices used to express their opinions.
William Blake uses repetition, rhyming and imagery in his poem to help promote the idea that London, England is not the city that people dream that it is, the city itself can be a
living we enjoy in the United States is a result of the fact that we,
These two poems are both written about London, one titled 'London' is written by William Blake. The other 'Composed up Westminster Bridge' is written by William Wordsworth. Even though these poems are written on the same setting, they are opposite sides of a coin. 'London' shows the appearance of the city from the position of an onlooker, it shows the suffering of the common man. 'Westminster Bridge' tackles a different view point, it portrays London as the city really is. The rich upper classes sit on the high seats lining their pockets with the riches that the poverty stricken lower classes have made for them. All the time these people shield themselves against the poverty of the city.
...ions of his speaker creates and underlying tension in the poem as it appears that he can not decide whether he is chastising the rich member of society for allowing the lives of the lower class to remain in such desolate or if he is sympathizing with the lower class against the elite of London. The two moods of sympathizing and chastising are created through Blake’s use of structure and figurative language; he constructs his speakers words in such a way that there is a clear division made between the elite and the suffering lower class. Blake’s poem is unique on the grounds that it contrasts the typical idea of retelling history. With any historical situation there is always two sides to the story and it is up to the person reproducing it which side will be told; Blake’s London address both point of views and lets the audience decide which side they will agree with.
Sociological criticism emphasizes the political, economic, and cultural aspects of literature, and one of its main focuses is evaluating writing from a Marxist perspective, which examines the writing in mostly political and economic fashion, including ideas such as communism and social inequality. The idea of class oppression is clearly represented in many of William Blake’s writings. Blake’s opposition to the exploitation of the proletariat by the capitalists is obvious in many of his poems. Blake’s ideology of an equalitarian society could be described in the sayings of Karl Marx. Marxist criticism explains the reasons behind Blake’s anger towards social inequality. Poems like “The Chimney Sweeper” and “London” illustrate Blake’s despairing sadness towards the phenomena produced by the unjust inequality in 18th century England. In “The Chimney Sweeper,” Blake expresses his anger at the late 18th and 19th century's use of child labor in urban England. In “London,” Blake illustrates the depressing class oppression that could be easily seen through the streets of London.
With the use of this word, we see that even the streets are owned by the state; that even the smallest aspects of life are controlled by the state.... ... middle of paper ... ... The last line, “and blights with plagues the marriage hearse,” further shows how this young harlot will pass diseases to the rich men that will use her services, and thus pass the disease to their own wives.