WEEK 5 & 6 : BLAKE THE CRIMINAL AND THE INNOCENT
Originally published at CANDY'S BLOG. You can comment here or there.
Is it not amazing how even now some 200+ years after Blake
was alive his work creates so much argument and discussion. Is he a criminal or even dangerous? Well after the tutorial and lecture last week I have to conclude that Blake was not these things by nature but he was more a threat to the heirachy that was in place, particulalry that of the church, as he called his readers to think beyond the restrictive square that has been placed upon their freedom and imagination.
Blake it seems never claimed that he was a genius, however, critics have placed this label upon him along with the label of an insane religious prophet. Blake chose to see the other side of God, the God that people did not fear, the God that one could begin to understand and accept through one’s imagination.
Blake I feel was a realist willing to break down the barriers that w
ere placed upon him, yes, he used images of rape and homosexuality, but hey let’s be realistic these things exist and he was willing to take notice. He did not want to sanitise his work and so he shouldn’t have!! Perhaps, Blake was dangerous because he anticipates the questions his critics would have by giving them answers in his text. He is like Eliot Ness…Untouchable.
Through the discussions this week my group and I have discovered how important and vital Blake sees the imagination to be and in particular how important and vital it is toward our experience and knowledge.
The question of experience being regeneration or what happens when we forget is interesting. Both of theses theories have plausible ideas attached to them.
The first -
- the re-generation of society causing new experiences
- experience leads to the regeneration of ideas and is therefore something positive
The second -
- you may make a mistake and then you learn from that experience however, you may forget the lesson until you repeat that action
- forgetting the experiences you wish to have
Overall, I feel that perhaps the more we experience the more we re-make ourselves. None the less it is certain that imagination helps us experience and gain knowledge and I think that Blake knew this and tried to share it with the world.
I have made two comments and here they are:
http://studentblogs.acu.edu.au/s00071075/2009/08/26/literature-entry-week-5-engl214/comment-page-1/#comment-437
hey Bec,
cool post and nice anime too, I am glad to see your doing some poetry, good on you. The poem was good and I loved how you captured that last minute of time where the day ends and a new day begins.
Cheers,
Candice
http://studentblogs.acu.edu.au/s00067739/2009/09/03/week-6/comment-page-1/#comment-6
G,
I am very interested in your piece it sounds great so far continue please so I can keep on reading, you obviously like toe tease your audience haha. Keep up the good work…
Candice