Sociological criticism analyzes the political, economic, and cultural aspects of literature. To examine literature from the perspective of Marxist social theory is a quintessential form of sociological criticism, as Marxism primarily deals with political and economic ideas of communism and social inequality. William Blake, a Romantic poet, frequently wrote on the topic of class oppression and his opposition to the exploitation of the proletariat by the capitalists. Blake’s ideology and preference towards an equalitarian society quite closely mirror the theories of Karl Marx. Analyzing Blake’s poetry from a Marxist perspective paints a clearer picture of the motives behind Blake’s anger towards social inequality. Poems such as “The Chimney Sweeper” and “London” from his poetry collections Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience illustrate Blake’s despair regarding the unjust and unequal society of 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 prevalent in the streets of the city.
Often considered by scholars as the greatest pioneer of the Romantic movement in English literature, Blake's poetry consistently embraces the idea of rebellion against the abuse of class power. In his lifetime, Blake encountered both the American and French revolutions and the sense of liberation in both revolutions influenced him heavily. The negative effects of the Industrial Revolution, which further polarized the income distribution among the rich and the poor, further concerned Blake. The British Marxist historian E.P. Thompson classified Blake as having many similar beliefs as Karl M...
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Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. Print.
LaGuardia, Cheryl. "WILLIAM BLAKE: SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE." Library Journal 128.9 (2003): 140. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 13 July 2011.
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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.
For those living during the eighteenth-century, life was full of innovation and the reconstruction of social classes and societal norms. With the tumultuous effects of the American and French Revolution’s on the world and the Industrial Revolution in their own city, London became fertile soil for a new literary movement to flourish in . The Romantic era invoked in art, literature, and philosophy, a more aesthetic experience. Artist and poet, William Blake, not only lived through this time of great social change, but was an important contributor to the Romantic literary movement that occurred in his lifetime. William Blake uses his intuitive spirituality and artistic skills that he acquired throughout the early years of his life to write about important principles of the human condition and inherent nature of mankind in his works, namely “A Poison Tree”; his simplistic writing style and use of imagery allows his blunt and unflattering religious message to be universally understood and categorizes him as a seminal figure of the romantic era.
Natoli, Joseph. "William Blake." Critical Survey Of Poetry, Second Revised Edition (2002): 1-12. Literary Reference Center. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
Whereas Blake’s poem focuses on universal suffering, Addison’s essay proves that Addison has a limited view of London society – he only revels in things that advantage the wealthy. When Blake wrote his poem in 1794, he did not have the formal education possessed by most of his contemporaries, which is reflected in his writing. Blake often focused on spiritual issues; he had an obsession of sorts with prophesying through poetry. In contrast, Addison’s essay was published in 1711. This essay was published at a time when foreign trade was just beginning. One might argue that Addison’s essay takes on a more materialistic stance than Blake’s poem. The two share few similarities, so where is the purpose in placing them in conversation with each other? I would argue that these texts are compared in order to gain a better understanding of London. There is no one way to study the city itself. These texts are crucial because they show the lowest and highest people in London society. Here are a few central propositions to illuminate my argument: Blake’s poem and Addison’s essay reveal different cultural and political views. To begin, these cultural differences appear through a few choice words in each ...
William Blake is remembered by his poetry, engravements, printmaking, and paintings. He was born in Soho, London, Great Britain on November 28, 1757. William was the third of seven siblings, which two of them died from infancy. As a kid he didn’t attend school, instead he was homeschooled by his mother. His mother thought him to read and write. As a little boy he was always different. Most kids of his age were going to school, hanging out with friends, or just simply playing. While William was getting visions of unusual things. At the age of four he had a vision of god and when he was nine he had another vision of angles on trees.
Nurmi, Martin K. "Joy, Love, and Innocence in Blake's “The Mental Traveller"" William Blake: The Politics of Vision (1946): 81-82. Web
Frye, Northrop. "Poetry and Design in William Blake." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 10 (Sept., 1951) 35-42.
Keynes, Sir Geoffrey. Introduction to William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. Ed. Geoffrey Keynes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967.
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. One of Blake’s most famous works is The Songs of Innocence and The Songs of Experience. In this collection, Blake illuminates the naive hopes and fears that inform the lives of children and follow them into adulthood.... ...
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.
William Blake makes a pointed critique of the society and institutions of the English Government in his poem, "London." Throughout the poem Blake presents an image of man against society. He directly accuses several institutions and society itself of creating the tyranny that is controlling the people of London. He alludes to the struggle of the classes, the upper-class controlling the lower, as being the reason for the problems in London. This conflict of classes is the reason for the oppression and tyranny that the people of London are forced to live under. The upper-class has to control the lower classes by subjugating them and forcing them to live by their rules. Blake writes the poem using a speaker "wandering" through the streets of London and observing what is going on. The speaker himself does not seem to be connected to the society but just someone going through it.
...me when greedy upper class capitalists exploited the working class for personal profit and we are living in a time where the nuclear family, with the one working parent and the one stay at home parent, is almost becoming obsolete. Both parents need to work in order to keep up with the increasing living expenses. Blake was around during the time of deism, a faith that denied any direct experience with God, in which the minds of the more intellectual people were fascinated. In our modern times, many people have denounced religion in search of a more tangible resource. William Blake's personal beliefs in defining the individuals search for freedom offers as much in context today, as it did back then. The new question of whether or not Blake's contribution will be enough to save our television, internet and cellular phone pop culture, is another question altogether.
Gleckner, Robert F. The Piper and the Bard: A Study of William Blake. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1959.
William Blake viewed English society as being bound with “mind-forg’d manacles” (London 2:4), the limits or social norms keeping us from being totally free, demonstrating Blake’s disapproval of England’s societal structure. In fact, Blake saw many problems within English society such as the power of the church, child labor, and monarchical structure. Moreover, Blake’s view was so profoundly negative that he looked at the French Revolution as the start of a new world. The French Revolution’s act of taking down the monarchical structure represented an apocalyptic event washing away those “mind-forg’d manacles”. Blake’s view of the French Revolution came from a belief that the structuralized religion of the Europe monarchical system took away
In 1789, English poet William Blake first produced his famous poetry collection Songs of Innocence which “combines two distinct yet intimately related sequences of poems” (“Author’s Work” 1222). Throughout the years, Blake added more poems to his prominent Songs of Innocence until 1794, when he renamed it Songs of Innocence and Experience. The additional poems, called Songs of Experience, often have a direct counterpart in Blake’s original Songs of Innocence, producing pairs such as “The Lamb” and “The Tyger.” In Songs of Innocence and Experience, Blake uses musical devices, structure, and symbolism to develop the theme that experience brings both an awareness of potential evil and a tendency that allows it to become dominant over childhood