1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
2. How do Blake and Rousseau's ideas align and differ (themes to consider are slavery, religion and education)?
2. How do Blake and Rousseau's ideas align and differ (themes to consider are slavery, religion and education)?
3. See what you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816...
4. How many fictional accounts (film and other narrative media) can you find about that? Provide some useful links, including Youtube clips (hint: for a start try Ken Russel Gothic on Youtube).
5. Discuss the links between the Villa Diodati "brat-pack" and the birth of Gothic as a modern genre with reference to specific texts by the authors who gathered there and subsequent texts (e.g. The Vampire >> Dracula, etc).
7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
4. How many fictional accounts (film and other narrative media) can you find about that? Provide some useful links, including Youtube clips (hint: for a start try Ken Russel Gothic on Youtube).
5. Discuss the links between the Villa Diodati "brat-pack" and the birth of Gothic as a modern genre with reference to specific texts by the authors who gathered there and subsequent texts (e.g. The Vampire >> Dracula, etc).
7. How does Frankenstein a) reference the Bible, b) foreshadow the Death of God and c) juggle genres as well as narrative points of view in its storytelling?
1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience
ReplyDeleteEdmund Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry (1757) connected the sublime with experiences of awe, terror and danger. Burke saw nature as the most sublime object, capable of generating the strongest sensations in its beholders (Tate.org.uk, 2018). William Blake explores such concepts, romanticising themes to capture readers, in his Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1789, 1794). Blake’s poems, The Chimney sweeper and Earth’s answer will be taken into consideration when discussing the romanticism reader.
The Chimney sweeper is narrated by a chimney sweeper. He tells us a little bit about himself first before giving us the lowdown on another chimney sweeper, Tom Dacre. In fact, we meet several (at least five) specific ones, thousands of other nameless ones, and we also get a pretty close look at their lives and the stuff of their work—brushes, bags, soot.
After introducing us to Tom, he relates a very strange dream that Tom had one night.
“And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he open'd the coffins & set them all free
Then naked & white, all their bags left behind”
It goes onto to speak about the
The poem concludes with Tom and the speaker waking up and going to work, sweepin' chimneys. Like they do. (Shmoop.com, 2018).
Delete“Could scarcely cry weep weep weep weep. So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.
That curl'd like a lambs back, was shav'd, so I said, Hush Tom never mind it, for when your head's bare, You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair”
Such things represent burdens that children should not have to bear, and the poem makes no secret of this opinion (Shmoop.com, 2018).
Another text which uses the romantic notion of the sublime would be Blakes, Earth’s answer. In this poem, Earth believes she is the prisoner and victim of a jealous God (Crossref-it.info, 2018). According to Blake, this is a consequence of the Fall. He believed that people have a divided inner state, therefore project all negative fears and instincts outward into the image of a tyrannical God. This image of God forbids the expression of human instincts and emotions,thus, their bodies become dead prisons to them rather than means of communication and relationship with others and source of pleasure (Crossref-it.info, 2018).
The Earth is traditionally personified as female (as in the expression ‘Mother Earth') because the earth gives life to vegetation and produces food by which humankind lives. In Christian tradition, earth is connected to the physical existence of humans, since, according to the creation narrative in Genesis 2:7, Adam was made from the dust of the earth. Terms of confinement (bondage) also echo through the poem – ‘Prison'd', ‘Chain'd', ‘heavy chain', ‘bondage' and ‘bound'. This reflects Earth's perspective that she is confined to the darkness because God is wantonly cruel and selfishly fears what Earth might achieve if released from his control. There is no recognition that the darkness and bondage is a consequence of human actions, over which God weeps. According to Christian understanding, it is human rebellion which has opened the way for death and decay. Images of fruition- “bud” turning into “blossom” seed being sown for an eventual harvest, after the land has been ‘plow[ed]' ,are symbolic of sexual activity.
References:
Tate.org.uk. (2018). The Romantic sublime. [online] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/the-sublime/the-romantic-sublime-r1109221 [Accessed 18 May 2018].
Shmoop.com. (2018). The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence) Summary. [online] Available at: https://www.shmoop.com/chimney-sweeper-innocence/summary.html [Accessed 18 May 2018].
Crossref-it.info. (2018). Earth's Answer - Imagery, symbolism and themes » Songs of Innocence and Experience Study Guide from Crossref-it.info. [online] Available at: http://crossref-it.info/textguide/songs-of-innocence-and-experience/13/1543 [Accessed 21 May 2018].
Hi Jonah,
DeleteI definitely agree with your points about the romantic notion in the 2nd poem 'Earth's answer', Blake explores a lot of controversial and usually a darker message hidden underneath which is what I've usually found from reading his poems. I also like how you explained the negative connection between people and the earth we live on such as it being a prison chained to us, it seemed like he was really trying to push through his ideas of realization onto the public audience. nice post!
Hey Jonah,
DeleteThis is a really well done answer. I like how you've delved into the meaning of the texts, especially with the Earth and how you've defined the imprisonment she's under. The constant affirmations of her situation highlight her situation tragically.
Great post, keep up the work.
-Erika.
2. How do Blake and Rousseau's ideas align and differ (themes to consider are slavery, religion and education)?
ReplyDeleteWilliam Blake and Jean-Jacques Rousseau had similar, but also differing ideas, when considering themes of slavery, religion and education.
EDUCATION:
William Blake speaks about the effects of formal education on a person's life, in his poem The School Boy. The first verse describes the delight of waking up to the birds singing and what a marvellous way this is to start the day, “I love to rise in a summer morn, when the birds sing on every tree”. The next verse, however, contrasts with verse one by describing how distraught the schoolboy is to be at school, and how the thought of this halts his happiness immediately. “But to go to school in a summer morn,-O it drives all joy away!...The little ones spend the day In sighing and dismay”. Verse three describes school, how when homeschooled you can sit happily and read. At school, there is no freedom; you will learn what you are told to learn, nothing more, nothing less. School cannot delight him. Verse four compares a boy at school to a bird in a cage: his potential is restrained. “How can the bird that is born for joy, Sit in a cage and sing? how can a child, when fears annoy, But droop his tender wing”. Verse five shows how people are dismayed at school and how students are stripped of their joy. The final verse describes how school can never be fun, but it is like a cold winter's day blasting through the warm summer.
He questions the organised setting of the education system and the effects it has on children. He believed that the students inner sense was to be brought to the forefront, so that they may be prepared for unpredictable experiences of human life. He went onto say that Imposing such strict rules and dogma in schools would not only cause painful suffering and apprehension for the student, but limits the lessons that student is capable of learning from his or her experiences and, most lamentably, reduces the overall quality of that individual's life and his or her potential enjoyment of it.
He believed that studies should be practical and men discovered principles ,so therefore it is their place to make the observations which lead men to discover those principles. A woman’s education must therefore be planned in relation to a man. To be pleasing in his sight, to win his respect and love, to train him in childhood, to tend him in manhood, to counsel and console, to make his life pleasant and happy, these are the duties of woman for all time, and this is what she should be taught while she is young.
DeleteSimilarly Jean Jaques-Rousseau had written Émile, published in 1762. He shared many ideas with Blake’s beliefs on education, especially with the underlying thesis of all Rousseau's writings stressing the natural goodness of man. It is society that corrupts and makes a man evil. In three books of Émile, Rousseau spoke about such issues. Book one spoke about dealing with the infancy of the child. He states that the tutor can only stand by the child's development for a limited time, ensuring that the child does not acquire any bad habits. According to Rousseau’s Émile Book Two, the purpose of education consisted of the tutor preparing the child for no particular social institution, but to preserve the child from the baleful influence of society. The character in the book, Emile is educated away from city or town; living in the country close to nature should allow him to develop into a benevolent, good adult. The child learns by using his senses in direct experience. Book Three describes the intellectual education of Emile. Again, this education is based upon Emile's own nature. When he is ready to learn and is interested in language, geography, history and science, he will possess the inner direction necessary to learn. This learning would grow out of the child's activities. He will learn languages naturally through the normal conversational activity. Rousseau assumes that Emile's motivation leads to the purposive self-discipline necessary to acquire knowledge. Finally Emile is taught the trade of carpentry in order to prepare him for an occupation in life.
Jacques believed the dogma of organized religion are unnecessary for man. The fundamental tenets of any religion affirm the existence of God and the immortality of the soul and these are known through the heart only. Having completed the explanation of Emile's ideal education, Rousseau turns his attention to the education of Sophie. Women are not educated as are men. The natural purpose of a woman is to please a man. She is expected to have and care for children, and to please, advise and console her husband whenever necessary. Her education does not extend beyond this purpose, which therefore agreeing with Blake on his perspective of women.
RELIGION:
DeleteIn the Prophetic books, Blake expresses his lifelong concern with the struggle of the soul to free itself from reason and organized religion. He was christened, married, and buried by the rites of the Church of England. He was a religious seeker but not a joiner. Profoundly influenced by some of the ideas of Swedish theologian Emanuel Swedenborg .Blake’s poem “The Divine Image” (from Songs of Innocence) is implicitly Swedenborgian, and he said that he based his design called The Spiritual Preceptor (1809) on the theologian’s book True Christian Religion. He soon decided, however, that Swedenborg was a “Spiritual Predestinarian,” as he wrote in his copy of Swedenborg’s Wisdom of Angels Concerning the Divine Providence (1790), and that the New Church was as subject to “Priestcraft” as the Church of England.
In A Vision of the Last Judgment he wrote that “the Creator of this World is a very Cruel Being,” whom Blake called variously Nobodaddy and Urizen, and in his emblem book For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise, he addressed Satan as “The Accuser who is The God of This World.” Blake loved the world of the spirit and abominated institutionalized religion, especially when it was allied with government; he wrote in his annotations to Bishop Watson’s Apology for the Bible (1797), “all […] codes given under pretence [sic] of divine command were what Christ pronounced them, The Abomination that maketh desolate, i.e. State Religion” and later in the same text, “The Beast & the Whore rule without control.” According to his longtime friend John Thomas Smith, “He did not for the last forty years of his attend any place of Divine worship.” For Blake, true worship was private communion with the spirit.
To begin with, Rousseau is clearly not hostile to religion as such: "no state has ever been founded without religion at its base."
(p.180) But he does have serious complaints about each of the three types of religion.
As hetells us, "The third kind is so manifestly bad that the pleasure of demonstrating its badness would be a waste of time. Everything that destroys social unity is worthless; and all institutions that set man at odds with himself are worthless." (p.181) The problem, in short, is that this kind of religion competes with the state for the total allegiance of the people; in consequence, society is divided. Individuals might think that conscience demands disobedience to the state, and they would have an organized hierarchy to back them up and marshall resistance. To a convinced corporativist like Rousseau, this is intolerable.
DeleteThe first type of religion, exemplified by the Christianity of the Gospels. At the outset, Rousseau tells us that this form of religion is not only holy and sublime but true. While that would appear to settle the matter, it doesn't for Rousseau. Instead, he moves on to complain that simple Christianity is bad for the state. Christianity is other-worldly, and therefore takes away from citizens' love for life on earth as exemplified by the state. As Rousseau explains, "Christianity is a wholely spiritual
religion, concerned solely with the things of heaven; the Christian's homeland is not of this world." (p.183) In consequence, Christians are too detached from the real world to fight against domestic tyranny. Moreover, Christians make bad soldiers, again because they are other-worldly. They won't fight with the passion and patriotism that a deadly army requires. Why any of this should count against Christianity after its truth has already been conceded is hard to understand.
We then turn to civil religion. It has much to recommend it:"The second kind of religion is good in that it joins divine worship to
a love of the law, and that in making the homeland the object of a citizens' adoration, it teaches them that the service of the state is the service of the tutelary God." (pp.181-182) If the sole purpose of religion is to butress the state, then a civil religion is the one to pick: it inspires obedience and service, but could never become an independent standpoint from which the state might be criticized or called to task for misdeeds. Religion is necessary to provide the state with moral underpinings; but if religion is separate from the state, then there is always the danger that the decrees of religion will fail to match those of the state, and instead positively mandate disobedience.
Yet Rousseau cannot give a whole-hearted endorsement to civil religion either. For one thing, "it is based on error and lies, it
deceives men, and makes them credulous and superstitious." (p.182).Again, this would appear to be a fatal blow; but for Rousseau, it is just one bad point to keep in mind. Civil religion also makes the people "bloodthirsty and intolerant" and Rousseau doesn't like that either.
References:
DeleteBentley, G. (2017). William Blake | British writer and artist. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Blake#ref261253 [Accessed 23 May 2018].
Libertygroup.tripod.com. (2018). William Blake and Natural Learning. [online] Available at: http://libertygroup.tripod.com/style.html [Accessed 23 May 2018].
En.wikipedia.org. (2018). The School Boy. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_School_Boy [Accessed 23 May 2018].
The Roots of Educational Theory. (2018). Jean-Jacques Rousseau. [online] Available at: https://educationalroots.weebly.com/jean-jacques-rousseau.html [Accessed 23 May 2018].
Blakearchive.org. (2018). The William Blake Archive. [online] Available at: http://www.blakearchive.org [Accessed 23 May 2018].
Caplan, B. (2014). [online] Econfaculty.gmu.edu. Available at: http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/bcaplan/rousseau.txt [Accessed 23 May 2018].
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete3. See what you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816...
ReplyDeleteThe eruption of Mount Tamboro in Indonesia of the summer of 1816, had sent clouds of volcanic ash billowing throughout North America, Europe and Asia. An obscured sun, increased levels of rainfall and falling temperatures. The summer of the following year was dismal and damp, with low temperatures and torrential rain causing disastrous crop failures. This lent a sinister and perhaps even supernatural quality to the need to light candles at midday as darkness descended, and the sight of birds settling down to roost at noon. Such a back drop contributed to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
The vital spark that gave the novel life however was Lord Byron’s suggestion one evening at the Villa Diodati, as candlelight flickered within the house and lightning flashed across the surface of the lake outside, that those present should turn their hands to the writing of ghost stories. It was a casual ploy to while away a few hours in an atmosphere of delicious fear, but it resulted in two iconic tales: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a story of scientific transgression and a cautionary warning about the need to take responsibility for one’s actions; and John Polidori’s The Vampyre, a tale which influenced Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula.
References:
Buzwell, G. (2014). Mary Shelley, Frankenstein and the Villa Diodati. [online] The British Library. Available at: https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/mary-shelley-frankenstein-and-the-villa-diodati [Accessed 24 May 2018].
Blake and Rousseau’s ideas concerning the themes of slavery, religion and education align and differ in interesting ways. Blake’s views are conveyed through poetic means, which allow for the reader’s own interpretations, whilst Rousseau’s are discussed and explored philosophically, which is geared towards persuasion.
ReplyDeleteEDUCATION
In Blake’s poems, there are subtle hints towards the theme of education, especially since one can only guess at what he means to convey. The one thing I did manage to make sense of is the poem Introduction where the Piper writes down his songs for the children to pass down: ‘And I made a rural pen, And I stain’d the water clear, And I wrote my happy songs, Every child may joy to hear.’ This may seem abstract and unclear at first but as I read on, there’s a clear theme present within a few more of Blake’s poems. Another, Holy Thursday, mentions the lines ‘Is that trembling cry a song? Can it be a song of joy?’ which is an allusion to a poverty-stricken populace. If we compare it to the previous poem, it’s an indication that the joy of the Piper’s song hasn’t been passed down. In The Chimney Sweeper, the song of joy has been replaced altogether and it’s meaning has been flipped upside down; this is shown by the verse ‘And taught me to sing the notes of woe’.
If we take this into an intergenerational context, we see that it’s a subtle view towards education becoming darker with each teaching. The original meaning and intent of the songs were lost through the years and instead twisted to suit the needs of the ones in power. The Chimney Sweeper especially focuses on a darker worldview where a slave is taught to be happy in a cruel way, hence the line ‘And because I am happy, & dance & sing, They think they have done me no injury’.
In Rousseau’s Emile discusses and envisions a way of heading education as a whole. In one part, the text explains how women cannot ‘grasp’ science the way men can, and that ‘their studies should be practical. It is their business to apply the principles discovered by men… to make the observations which lead men to discover those principles’ (Rousseau, 1762, p. 109) which suggests leaving women to do the grunt work for men to claim the credit of. Rousseau also states that ‘the early education of man is also in a woman’s hands...a woman’s education must therefore be planned in relation to man...these are the duties of woman for all time, and this is what she should be taught while she is young’ (Rousseau, 1762, p. 34). This expresses that the roles in society is something that should be taught from an early age and focuses solely on the woman’s education since it is her role to ‘nurture’ in the first place.
There is a clear difference between these two views: where Blake remarks on the change of education throughout generations, Rousseau focuses wholly on how education should be.
SLAVERY
DeleteBlake takes a dismal approach towards slavery. In Songs of Innocence, Tom is a slave and has a dream about being set free, in a sense. ‘So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm,’ which alludes to the idea that if they meekly followed their masters then they’ll be liberated in the end. In comparison, The Chimney Sweeper gives insight to a boy who’s a slave but is given some liberties in order to comply with the situation he’s in. ‘They clothed me in the clothes of death, And taught me to sing the notes of woe’ suggests a trapped fate of accepting the pleasures given but, in reality, they’re only given to keep him there. ‘And because I am happy, & dance & sing, They think they have done me no injury’ goes on to illustrate the way the boy’s ‘masters’ using simple pleasures as a means to absolve themselves of their own guilt towards using the boy.
Rousseau’s The Social Contract goes into a philosophical discussion on the idea of slavery and human rights. The text mentions the nature of man itself and how ‘his first law is to provide for his own preservation.’ (Cole, 1913, p.2) Comparing this to the following passage about slaves taken through war and that a slave is ‘under no obligation to a master except to obey him as far as he is compelled to do so… taking an equivalent for his life, the victor has not done him a favour,’ (Cole, 1913, p. 13) it suggests that a slave chooses to have his freedom stripped in exchange for his life because they’re in the position to do as such. They’re free to go against their ‘master’ but would risk their life doing so. Rousseau goes on to say ‘the words slave and right contradict each other, and are mutually exclusive’ (Cole, 1913, p. 14) which means that to be a slave is to completely forfeits any rights that slave has despite their humanity.
Both Blake and Rousseau’s views align on this theme. They’re both clearly against it though possess different ways of interpreting it. Blake’s portrayal of it, while abstract, gives the impression that slaves were not aware of their own rights given their circumstances and were wholly stuck in the situation with no way out whereas Rousseau’s discussion on it points towards a slave’s awareness and willingness to stay in their position to save their own skin.
RELIGION
DeleteReligion is prevalent through at least four texts of Blake’s. The Little Boy lost and The Little Boy found are both related to one another, hence the names, and contain imagery of finding and chasing the ‘father’ figure through the woods. In The Little Boy lost, a stanza states ‘The little boy lost in the lonely fen, Led by the wand’ring light’ which suggests us as the children and god as the light that guides us. The Little Boy found goes on further to say ‘He kissed the child & by the hand led And to his mother brought’ which illustrates the child being taken home to their mother. Both texts allude to the idea that even if one is lost, there’ll be a light from God to guide them back to safety and home again.
Another two of Blake’s poems contain religious influences. Songs of Innocence depict Tom having a dream about an Angel saying to him that ‘if he’d be a good boy, He’d have God for his father & never want joy’ which means that Tom must obey his masters otherwise he’ll never garner the freedom he craves. In The Chimney Sweeper, there are lines conveying that the boy’s parents go to church as he works: ‘are gone to praise God & his Priest & King Who make up a heaven of our misery’. It also suggests that the happiness and peace achieved through religious worship is made solely from the hard work of those in slavery, hence the ‘heaven of our misery’.
Looking at all four of these poems, there are two ideas towards Religion here: one is that religion is something to bring comfort and lead those who need it and search for it, the other is that religion is used to control those in slavery, manipulating and teaching those that aren’t in power that they must bear with the hand they’re dealt with. While religion isn’t painted as something inherently bad in these poems, it’s more-so depicted as something that can be used to excuse or control people.
Rousseau’s Social Contract delves into the idea that there are different types of religion in the world. He mentions three overall but the third is ‘so manifestly bad...everything that destroys social unity is worthless’ (Cole, 1913, p. 181). Instead, he focuses on criticizing the other two. The first type he dubs as ‘religion of the man’ (Cole, 1913, p. 181) which is demonstrated by Christianity. Rousseau describes it as a ‘wholely spiritual religion, concerned solely with the things of heaven; the Christian’s homeland is not of this world’ (Cole, 1913, p. 183) which suggests that it refocuses it’s followers towards something other than this world and detaches them completely. On the other hand, Rousseau seems to somewhat favour ‘the religion of the citizen’ (Cole, 1913, p. 181) since it ‘joins divine worship to a love of the law, and that in making the homeland the object of a citizens’ adoration, it teaches them that the service of the state is the service of the tutelary God’ (Cole, 1913, p. 181-182); it encourages social unity which is something Rousseau wholly approves of. However, he didn’t find it completely without critique and also mentioned ‘it is based on error and lies, it deceives men, and makes them credulous and superstitious.’ (Cole, 1913, p. 183). Rousseau’s view on religion, considering all of the above, is very thorough and thought out. He’s taken a direct approach in analysing the way religion builds and affects states and eventually deems them as something that’s influential to society and unifying it. However, Rousseau believed that religion made men detached from the real world, leading them to chase something imaginary.
ReplyDeleteBoth Rousseau’s and Blake’s ideas on religion vary when it comes to a comparison. On one hand, Blake illustrated men chasing the idea of God as someone to lead them when lost, and even depicts ‘God’ as vapour. Rousseau expressed that religion fixates the mind on something ‘otherworldly’. Both these interpretations differ in the way that religion is something we chase but can catch, based on Blake’s views, or can’t, based on Rousseau’s views. On the other hand, they both have similar ideas on the way religion is used to manipulate or shape society. Blake mentioned in his poems how religion was used to bring the slaves ‘peace’ with what their life was like while Rousseau tackled the structure of different religions and laid out how it was able to influence men and their obedience to the law.
REFERENCES:
Blake, W. (1972; 1794). Songs of Innocence and Experience with an introduction and commentary by Sir Geoffrey Keynes, London: Oxford
Rousseau, J.J. (1762). Emile.
Cole, G.D. (1913). Translation of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract, 1762
Hi Erika,
DeleteFirstly, you did a great job of breaking down each section and showing both Rousseau's and Blake's similarities in ideas and also the different ways they interpret them too, good use of quotes as well, great job n
1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience (1794) both captivate the Romanticism movement and were a huge part in recognising the ‘goodness’ in humanity. Two examples of his works that this can be identified in are ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ and ‘Infant Joy’.
The narrative of ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ is seen through the eyes of a child, which is done purposefully to explore social issues such as virtual slavery of children, poverty and religion. This is evident in the first 2 lines of the poem; ‘When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue…’, Immediately we know that because one of his/her parents died, and the other couldn’t afford to care for them or didn’t want them so they were sold into hard labour. However when the narrator has a dream about the children being freed (by angels), s/he is given hope, happiness and purpose to a silver lining if they work hard. Romanticism is thereby introduced because these children who are living in very poor life/death conditions who would normally be feeling sad or depressed are given optimism and hope which could be a contradiction of religion and reality. In my opinion I think that Blake did this to oppose religious beliefs, and target the church teachings and ideas. Blake has made other poems that oppose the church/religion such as the poem ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell’, where Blake ‘...brutally satirizes the works of church and state.’ (Craig, 2017).
The last line of the poem echoes this idea; ‘So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm’. Although the poem is romanticised this line line to me personally seems like a threat, although it could also be seen as ‘a way to freedom’, I didn’t get that. Because of Blake’s views and his dark underlying messages in these simple poems I see it as the slavery and poverty that causes these children to work as chimney sweepers, is just an excuse for people in higher authority to take advantage and make these unfortunate children do their dirty work as they have no other option/place to go. By saying that they ‘need not fear harm’ is like them being told ‘do your job and we won’t hurt you/throw you out on the street’.
‘Infant Joy’ also explores the romantic notion of sublime reflecting the romanticism, this time however the poem on the surface seems much more simple but the meaning/message hidden behind the romanticism is quite controversial. Again like in ‘The Chimney Sweeper’, the narrative is told through the eyes of a child (this time a 2 day old baby) who says; ‘I have no name, I am but two days old. What shall I call thee? I happy am…’, These first four lines seem harmless if it was interpreted by people in our time in the 21st century, however back in the 17th and 18th centuries when freedom and people’s rights/opinions weren’t as open as it is now, it created a problem.
The bible states in multiple scriptures that we are born with and are natural sinners such as in Psalm 51:5 ‘Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me’ and in Ephesians 2:3 ‘...by nature children of wrath’ (Perman, 2006). These religious teachings were a vital part of like back then due to clashes over the King and parliament back in the 17th century. When Blake wrote the first four lines I mentioned above about the 2 day old child being happy, readers and critics were outraged, as it opposed the idea of original sin and replaced it through romanticising a newborn child having no sin, only happiness. This became a revolutionary poem as Blake wasn’t afraid to open up an argument of religious nonconformity, as well as openly rejecting cardinal christian beliefs (original sin) through sublime romanticism.
References:
DeleteCraig, J. (2018). William Blake. Retrieved from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-blake
Perman, M. (2006, January 23). What is the biblical evidence for original sin? Retrieved from https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-biblical-evidence-for-original-sin
T. (2017). The William Blake Archive Biography. Retrieved from http://www.blakearchive.org/
Hey Anthony,
Deletefirst of all. I love the structure of your answer. Great response. I lover how you picked up on things we spoke about in our classes with the romanticism of such serious issues in Blakes time and still can be echoed today with child slavery and religion. Very controversial topics to this day. also like how've you backed your evidence with the scripture from the bible in which Blake battled against with his sublime romanticism. Well thought out answer and great post!
While there are many reports regarding that infamous weekend in 1816 in the mansion rented by Lord Byron, and stayed with Mary Shelley, Claire Clairemont, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Polidori. The most common conclusion is that the group engaged in a “Ghost story challenge” (Buzwell, 2014). Various tales include that the weather was terrible, lightning flashed and stormy winds clattered the windows as they dripped with rain. Given the moody atmosphere and uncharacteristic weather of the time, it was said that the trio challenged each other to come up with the most horrifying story they could. The result was two of the most influential gothic horror tales of all time, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, and John Polidori’s The Vampyre, which of course went on to more or less create the vampire genre, and influenced Bram Stoker's Dracula. (Buzwell.) It is said that the abysmal weather is what inspired the dreary tone that was set upon the mansion, and it is for that reason, that the challenged was set, as the macabre setting was a perfect inspiration for the tales that would be written. Scientists had apparently discovered dark spots on the moon that very year, which brought about a sense of unease and a general sense of doom. (Buzwell). 1816 was commonly referred to as the year without a summer, as temperatures were cold and the climate and atmosphere was miserable all year round, which was later discovered to be the fault of the volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia. (Sunstein, 1989).
ReplyDeleteKnowing all of this, the gloomy environment and being cooped up inside a mansion while the world was giving this group a feeling of melancholy, it is not hard to see how so many gloomy and gothic pieces of literature could have come from this weekend.
Buzwell, G. (2014). Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, and the Villa Diodati. Retrieved from https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/mary-shelley-frankenstein-and-the-villa-diodati
Sunstein, E, W. (1989). Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality; p.118. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991. ISBN 0-8018-4218-2.
This is in response to question 3:
Delete3. See what you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816…
4. How many fictional accounts (film and other narrative media) can you find about that? Provide some useful links, including Youtube clips (hint: for a start try Ken Russel Gothic on Youtube).
ReplyDeleteThrough my research of this fateful weekend, I have found three significant films surrounding the events themselves. While of course there have been dozens of film and television adaptations of Frankenstein, and the countless tales The Vampyre inspired, a few films have been made about the real life events themselves. One such film is Gothic, which was a recommended starting point. Released in 1986 and Directed by Ken Russell, the film feels like a heavily fictionalised version of the events of the weekend. It features drug fuelled games, and sexual fantasies gone awry. To be fair, it could quite possibly be true and I suppose we’ll never know, but I am not too sure.
The next, is Bride of Frankenstein, released in 1935 and directed by James Whale. While this story doesn’t cover a lot of the real events, and is more of a sequel to the classic Frankenstein film. The film however, opens with a brief scene of Mary Shelley telling her friends that the tale of her Monster is not over, and she begins to recount the tale of how the Monster finds a companion and a new maker.
The final two films are very similar, Rowing with the Wind (Dir. Gonzalo Suarez) and Haunted Summer (Dir. Ivan Passer). Both were released in 1988, and both have remarkably similar plotlines. Both films share a similar romantic theme, and explore the relationships between the group that stayed in the vila for the weekend. Rowing with the Wind, however, contains more of mystical element to it, as if what she has written in Frankenstein has suddenly become real. All four examples are very interesting takes on the events of the weekend, and I find it interesting that there is a market for the behind the scenes of the book creation, as I always find it compelling, especially these books.
Gothic
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091142/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Bride of Frankenstein
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026138/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Rowing with the Wind
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093840/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt
Haunted Summer
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095280/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Hey sam,
DeleteI liked how you have made comparison across different films of the fateful films. This has definitely caught my interest and I am now keen to check out these films to see the similarities. nice work!