William Blake's Aesthetics of Faith and Redemption PDF Download

Author: Mary O'Shan Overton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Author: Jennifer Jesse
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739177915
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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In this innovative study, Jesse challenges the prevailing view of Blake as an antinomian and describes him as a theological moderate who defended an evangelical faith akin to the Methodism of John Wesley. She arrives at this conclusion by contextualizing Blake’s works not only within Methodism, but in relation to other religious groups he addressed in his art, including the Established Church, deism, and radical religions. Further, she analyzes his works by sorting out the theological “road signs” he directed to each audience. This approach reveals Blake engaging each faction through its most prized beliefs, manipulating its own doctrines through visual and verbal guide-posts designed to communicate specifically with that group. She argues that, once we collate Blake’s messages to his intended audiences—sounding radical to the conservatives and conservative to the radicals—we find him advocating a system that would have been recognized by his contemporaries as Wesleyan in orientation. This thesis also relies on an accurate understanding of eighteenth-century Methodism: Jesse underscores the empirical rationalism pervading Wesley’s theology, highlighting differences between Methodism as practiced and as publicly caricatured. Undergirding this project is Jesse’s call for more rigorous attention to the dramatic character of Blake’s works. She notes that scholars still typically use phrases like “Blake says” or “Blake believes,” followed by some claim made by a Blakean character, without negotiating the complex narrative dynamics that might enable us to understand the rhetorical purposes of that statement, as heard by Blake’s respective audiences. Jesse maintains we must expect to find reflections in Blake’s works of all the theologies he engaged. The question is: what was he doing with them, and why? In order to divine what Blake meant to communicate, we must explore how those he targeted would have perceived his arguments. Jesse concludes that by analyzing the dramatic character of Blake’s works theologically through this wide-angled, audience-oriented approach, we see him orchestrating a grand rapprochement of the extreme theologies of his day into a unified vision that integrates faith and reason.

Author: Margaret Bottrall
Publisher: Ed. di Storia e Letteratura
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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The author argues that no English poet can compare with Blake as an interpreter of the religion of Jesus.

Author: Robert Rix
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351872958
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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This study traces the links between William Blake's ideas and radical Christian cultures in late eighteenth-century England. Drawing on a significant number of historical sources, Robert W. Rix examines how Blake and his contemporaries re-appropriated the sources they read within new cultural and political frameworks. By unravelling their strategies, the book opens up a new perspective on what has often been seen as Blake's individual and idiosyncratic ideas. We are also presented with the first comprehensive study of Blake's reception of Swedenborgianism. At the time Blake took an interest in Emanuel Swedenborg, the mystical and spiritual writings of the theosophist had become a platform for radical and revolutionary politics, as well as numerous heterodox practices, among his followers in England. Rix focuses on Swedenborgianism as a concrete and identifiable sub-culture from which a number of essential themes in Blake's works are reassessed. This book will appeal not only to Blake scholars, but to anyone studying the radical and sub- culture, religious, intellectual and cultural history of this period.

Author: Naomi Billingsley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1838609660
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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William Blake (1757-1827) is considered one of the most singular and brilliant talents that England has ever produced. Celebrated now for the originality of his thinking, painting and verse, he shocked contemporaries by rejecting all forms of organized worship even while adhering to the truth of the Bible. But how did he come to equate Christianity with art? How did he use images and paint to express those radical and prophetic ideas about religion which he came in time to believe? And why did he conceive of Christ himself as an artist: in fact, as the artist, par excellence? These are among the questions which Naomi Billingsley explores in her subtle and wide-ranging new study in art, religion and the history of ideas. Suggesting that Blake expresses through his representations of Jesus a truly distinctive theology of art, and offering detailed readings of Blake's paintings and biblical commentary, she argues that her subject thought of Christ as an artist-archetype. Blake's is thus a distinctively 'Romantic' vision of art in which both the artist and his saviour fundamentally change the way that the world is perceived.

Author: Magnus Ankarsjö
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786445599
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Over the last ten years the field of Blake studies has profited from new discoveries about Blake's life and work. This book examines the effect that Blake's mother's recently discovered Moravianism has had on our understanding of his poetry, and gives special attention to Moravianism and Swedenborgianism and their relation to his sexual politics. This is accomplished by a close reading of Blake's poetry, which examines in detail the subjects of religion, sex, and the attempted colonization of Africa by a Swedenborgian utopian group.

Author: William Blake
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 62

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William Blake's The Book of Urizen is a profound illuminated manuscript that delves into themes of creation, religion, and the limitations of human existence. Written in Blake's unique poetic style, the book combines text with intricate illustrations that enhance the reader's understanding of the narrative. The rich imagery and symbolism in The Book of Urizen make it a significant work of the Romantic era, exploring the complexities of the human experience and the eternal struggle between good and evil. Blake's use of allegory and mythological references adds depth to the text, inviting readers to engage with layers of meaning and interpretation. William Blake, a visionary poet and artist, was deeply influenced by his spiritual beliefs and his interest in the supernatural. His vast body of work often reflected his revolutionary ideas and criticism of societal norms. The Book of Urizen showcases Blake's talent for blending poetry with visual art, creating a one-of-a-kind reading experience that challenges the reader's perception of reality and existence. I highly recommend The Book of Urizen to readers interested in exploring the philosophical and spiritual aspects of Romantic literature. Blake's masterpiece offers a thought-provoking journey into the depths of the human soul and prompts contemplation on the nature of divinity and human nature.

Author: William Blake
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 975

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William Blake's 'The Greatest Works of William Blake' is a comprehensive collection of the renowned poet and artist's original writings, complete with his distinctive illustrations. Known for his mysticism and visionary poetry, Blake's works often explore themes of spirituality, imagination, and the human experience. His unique literary style combines intricate symbolism with lyrical language, creating a rich and vibrant tapestry of images and ideas. This collection showcases Blake's most famous poems, including 'Songs of Innocence and Experience', 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell', and 'The Tyger', alongside his striking visual art, which adds an additional layer of depth to his already profound words. In the context of Romantic literature, Blake stands out as a visionary figure whose works continue to captivate readers with their timeless relevance and beauty.

Author: William Blake
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 90

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Author: Joshua Schouten de Jel
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040003656
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Despite the fact that William Blake summarises the plot of Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793) in just eight lines in the prefatory ‘Argument,’ there are several contentious moments in the poem which continue to cause debate. Critics read Oothoon’s call to Theotormon’s eagles and her offer to catch girls of silver and gold as either evidence of her rape-damaged psyche or confirmation of her selfless love which transcends her socio-sexual state. How do we reconcile the attack of Theotormon’s eagles and the wanton play of the girls with Oothoon’s articulate and highly sophisticated expressions of spiritual truth and free love? In William Blake’s Divine Love: Visions of Oothoon, Joshua Schouten de Jel explores the hermeneutical possibilities of Oothoon’s self-annihilation and the epistemological potential of her visual copulation by establishing an artistic and hagiographical heritage which informs the pictorial representation and poetic pronunciation of Oothoon’s enlightened entelechy. Working with Michelangelo’s The Punishment of Tityus (1532) and Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647–51), Oothoon’s ecstatic figuration reflects two iconographic traditions which, framed by the linguistic tropes of divine love expressed within a female-centred mystagogy, reveal the soteriological significance of Oothoon’s willing self-sacrifice.