In society today we applaud William Blake for his masterful poetry and detailed illustrations. His work is studied still, generations after it was made, yet Blake’s peers of the 18th century labeled him as merely a madman. What made Blake so revolutionary was that he would take the social traditions and events occurring during his life and criticize them through his artwork. He blatantly displayed his disagreement with the norm and this caused discontent within society. Ultimately, Blake used his artwork as a social commentary on the aspects of his time period, and in doing so, revealed his own character.
The role of gender and sexuality in society was a topic Blake openly disagreed with. In a time where women were meant to stay in the home and care for the kids, Blake believed this was a great social injustice. He asserted, through artwork like Oothon and Bromian Enchained Before Theotormon, that women should not be treated as inferior creatures but given the respect they deserve. Moreover, another commonly held belief was that sexuality was a lustful sin and should be stifled to protect the fragile psyche of the woman. Blake contended, on the other hand, that sexuality should be thoroughly embraced and celebrated. This idea is seen in his work The Circle of the Lustful where lovers are portrayed kissing and embracing. Blake’s criticism of society suggests he was confident in his beliefs, despite the condemnation he would undoubtedly receive in return. His artistic commentaries also suggest Blake to be a thoughtful and intelligent man, not a raving lunatic.
Perhaps the biggest aspect of society that Blake criticized was the institutionalized Church. Blake defended the notion that the Church focused on the glorification of ceremony and procedure when it should have focused on love and faith. Blake held great disgust for the repressive Church and its authoritarian leaders, such as the pope, shown most blatantly in his art Lucifer and the Pope in Hell (shown above: Stahl 5). One other painting highlighted Blake’s belief that the Church was a deceptive governing body: The Number of the Beast is 666. In this painting, the Church is suggested to lead its people directly into the hands of Satan. As one can imagine, criticisms like this did not go over well with society. The main point though is that Blake boldly asserted his beliefs through his artwork, unafraid of the consequences. He was clearly influenced by the events of his time, and skillfully used his art as an in-depth commentary and analysis of what was socially accepted. The insights of this “madman” held truths that perhaps society just didn’t want to believe.
Prompts:
1) William Blake expressed his beliefs on gender and religion through his artwork. If you were to critique society, how would you express yourself (what modes, would you be discreet or blatant, etc.)? What aspects would you criticize? You may choose to write a narrative to explain this.
2) Are all artists influenced by the beliefs and events of their times? Is it possible not to be influenced by what is happening around us? If not, are we merely a product of society?
3) Choose one or more of Blake’s works shown in the presentation and create a story explaining what you see. Be creative.
Oothon and Bromian Enchained Before Theotormon: http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e27/dr_mindbender/Blake77.jpg
Circle of the Lustful: Francesca da Ramini: http://www.huma3.com/repository/reviews/William_Blake.jpg
The Number of the Beast is 666: http://www.apocalyptic-theories.com/gallery/beast/blakebeast2bg.jpg
Europe, a Prophecy: http://www.britsattheirbest.com/images/cr_blake_ancient_of_days_38.jpg
Satan Watching the Caress of Adam and Eve:http://biblioklept.org/2008/03/
The Whirlwind: Ezekiel’s Vision of the Cherubim and Eyed- Wheels:
http://fullhomelydivinity.org/articles/angels.htm
Prompt #3, using "Satan Watching the Caress of Adam and Eve":
ReplyDeleteIt was such a perfect and beautiful world. The Garden of Eden provided food, water, shelter and everything else that Adam and Eve could ever need or want. It was paradise. Adam and Eve had been together for a year, living in love and happiness and nothing made them happier then when they were praising to God. They both loved God unconditionally just like He loved them, and because of that love Adam and Eve loved each other like no two people have loved since. God smiled down upon the loving couple and blessed them.
One afternoon, Adam and Eve were spending time together after a morning of gathering food and water. They sat down underneath a tree, enjoying the shade and the coolness it brought. They were talking little, wanting nothing more then to sit with each other. The afternoon started out like any other that past year; Adam held Eve close, kissing her often and they both thanked God for all He gave them. Without warning, Eve shot up.
“What is the matter?” Adam asked.
“I feel like someone is watching us,” Eve answered, trembling.
“Of course someone is watching us. God is always watching over us no matter where we are. Do not fear everything is ok,” Adam said confidently.
“No,” Eve said. “This is different. The feeling isn’t one of love but one of malice. I am afraid.”
“Just relax. God will protect us.”
Eve tried with all her might to relax and calm her hurried heartbeat. She prayed quietly to herself, hoping God would help her. All the while there was someone besides God watching Adam and Eve. Unseen above the couple, Satan watched and waited, waiting for the moment when he could tempt Eve.
Way up in the heavens, God heard Eve’s prayer and comforted her. However He was not pleased. God knew what had caused Eve fear. He knew the day was soon at hand when Eve would be tempted by Satan and He would have to banish Adam and Eve from the garden for forever.
One week later, Eve was on a walk. It was something she did everyday and she used the peacefulness for her personal time with God. She continued walking further than she ever had not noticing that she was in a part of the garden she had never seen. She soon stumbled upon a tree with fruit she had not yet tried. The tree seemed to be calling out to her.
Come. Eat some of my beautiful and delicious fruit. Aren’t you hungry? Don’t you want to try some?
Eve was confused. She had a feeling that she should not eat from the tree, but the tree called out again.
Eve, come. If you eat this fruit you will be all knowing just like God. You will know everything you could possibly want to know and your understanding will increase.
The temptation was just too much. Eve reached out and took the most beautiful piece of fruit she could find. She closed her eyes and bit into the fruit. The taste was extraordinary. Her taste buds sang. The tree had definitely told her the truth, the fruit tasted amazing.
Before she could take another bite the ground shook and a sound like thunder sounded throughout the sky. Eve’s eyes flew open. In front of her stood a man with a snake wrapped around him and a smirk across his face. The thunder sounded again.
And then Eve understood. The man in front of her was Satan. The loud noise and shaking of the ground was God’s anger. She also noticed she was naked. Adam soon found her and they covered themselves, ashamed of their nakedness.
Then God banished them from paradise.
William Blake expressed his beliefs about society both through his art and his writings. If I were to critique society in some way I would also probably do it through my writings because it’s not as visual. Art puts your ideas way out there, in a way I’m not really comfortable with. I’m really not comfortable with putting myself out there in writing, but for me, words have more security. Writing can also take on more subtlety for me because I’m not a great artist, but I can occasionally add the subtext into my writings. I would definitely not be blatant about it because I feel like you can blatantly criticize society in other manners rather than art and writing. If you simply wanted to state your opinions blatantly on religion and gender roles, two things Blake talks about, there are public forums in which to do it. I think by being subtle and more discreet it gives a larger meaning to what you’re trying to get across.
ReplyDeleteI would also probably criticize gender roles, as Blake did. There are still so many beliefs about what men and women should be; whether it’s defined by culture, religion, or just stereotypes of the past. I think it’s important to understand all of these views and explore them. I have my own beliefs about them, which I won’t go into here, but by examining them all through literature and art, a better understanding of humans can be found, which seems like something Blake was interested in. He wrote poetry, examined the good and evil in people, and really put thought into his works. Not related to Blake’s criticisms, but I think I would also comment on the importance of travel in a person’s life.
I think Blake was influenced by the beliefs of his time, as evident by what he painted, but he did not allow himself to be defined by these ideas. He instead challenged the dominant view of what a woman and a man were and showed a different side to things. He even criticized religion, which takes a huge amount of courage in any society or time. That’s not being a product of society, if he was, he would have maintained the traditions of respecting religion. It’s impossible not to be influenced by the world in which we live, but the way we take and interpret this influence is what matters. Blake took the ideals of his time, lived within societal bounds, and worked successfully, but he challenged some of the mainstream ideas. There’s a balance that people can find, where society influences life, but people are not necessarily a product of it. People can choose how to respond to society, and the few that break out of some of the bounds can gain great insight and produce wonderful art.
Just a side note, I think it would have been interesting to hear about his illustrated poems, like Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
One of William Blake’s purposes for painting was to critique society. He was very obvious about it and people could not miss what he was saying through his artwork. If I were to criticize society like William Blake did, I would do it more discretely. For example, I might direct a satirical film about society and people would have to think about what I was trying to say. I would use film as the medium for several reasons. First, most people in our society watch movies so my criticisms would be seen by many people. Also, I enjoy watching movies that have a deeper meaning and have symbols that I have to figure out. I like trying to understand what the director is portraying though the lighting, color, and music.
ReplyDeleteFilm as a medium would be ironic because one of the aspects I would criticize would be how addicted our society is to various screens like we discussed with the Children of the Screen essay. Also, I would talk about how dependent we are on screens. It is very hard to get away from these television, cell phone, and computer screens. People get very upset when they can’t check their email account daily or when they go somewhere without the global positioning system on their cell phone or in their car. Another of my criticisms would be how consumerist our society is. America is very obsessed with buying items and most people view wealth and possessions as a sign of status. This clutters and complicates our lives and yet is necessary to our economy.
Like William Blake, I think that all artists, and in general, all people, are influenced by the beliefs and events of their society. I think that it is impossible to not be influenced by what is happening around us. However, I do not believe that this makes us a product of society. I think that we can choose how we react to what we see. We can examine the beliefs of our society and consciously decide if we are going to accept them or choose our own. Similarly, we are affected by the things that happen in our lives and our societies, but, again, we can choose how we are going to respond to them.
For example, the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001 changed America and its people. We can react to this in different ways, however. On one hand, we can decide to hate everyone in the Middle East and distrust anyone who looks Middle Eastern. On the other hand, we can calmly try to stop terrorism and realize that the huge majority of people in the Middle East would never dream of being a terrorist.
Basically, we can let the terrorist attacks make us into hateful, distrustful people or understanding, watchful citizens. In this way, we are affected by events in our society, but we ultimately decide who we are going to be. This was true for William Blake as well. He saw the common beliefs in his society, disagreed with them, and used his paintings to let others see how he felt.
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ReplyDeleteThough William Blake very clearly critiqued society through his artwork, don’t we all critique society in our thoughts and actions every day? The very nature of society dictates that it is always changing based on the people of that given society. With that being said, I believe the nature of the question relates more to what I would do to leave a lasting effect on the people around me and for generations to come. In this sense, first, I would tailor my actions. I believe very much in satire, it amuses and interests me. I enjoy it so much because it requires a bit of critical thinking. Someone who is completely oblivious would take something satirical at face value and continue on without another thought. I often say or suggest things to draw attention to the faults of society, implying that I am a product of my environment. I do this both for entertainment value and for shock value, to make sure that people realize the consequences of maintaining the status quo and not fighting the bad effects of society.
ReplyDeleteIf I were more intelligent and had more status then I currently do, I would also write essays on the subject. I once read an editorial in my high school paper that was clearly written by a kid who had simply regurgitated the politics fed to him by his parents. I knew nothing about this bill, but I could see through the veil and recognize it for what it was: political propaganda. Opposed to the thought of mindless high school seniors jumping in and voting in the next election without making decisions for themselves, a consequence of society via party politics and poor parenting, I wrote an editorial reply. I found the bill and cited directly from it, relaying only facts, and though I did not attack the author of the editorial, or the editorial board directly, I suggested to the school that they should do some primary research on their own and use the critical thinking skills they had been taught for at least the past 4 years before making political decisions. Despite some initial friction between the newspaper advisor and I because of the sensitive nature of the topic and their limits on space, I was published in the following months paper.
Finally, I also enjoy and believe in the power of photography. Through darkroom manipulation, I would use black and white film photography to create images that facilitated critical thinking and eventually change. For example, I could use an image of a person and an image of something terrible or cruel and superimpose the latter in the head or torso of the former to show the evil nature of man.