Concetti Chiave
- William Blake was a political freethinker, deeply aware of the social issues of his time, and supported the French Revolution.
- He connected visual arts with writing through illuminated printing, often depicting religious subjects and scenes from the Bible and Dante's Divine Comedy.
- Blake's poetry rejected neoclassical styles, emphasizing imagination over nature, and explored themes of innocence and experience.
- He wrote prophetic books like "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," criticizing the repression of human energies and promoting joy and freedom.
- Blake believed in the concept of complementary opposites, such as male and female or good and evil, viewing them as integral to the human experience.
William Blake
Life
• Born into a family of poor origin
• Deeply aware of the great politics and social issues of his age
• Was a political freethinker and supported French Revolution
• Strong sense of religion
• The most important literary influence in his life was the bible
• He had not much friends, the most important were his wife and his brother who, apperead in Blake’s dreams showing him how to create his unique style.
Blake the artist
• He attended to a drawing school
• He studied Raphael and Michelangelo’s works.
• Connected visual arts with writing creating illuminated printing
• Many of his paintings had religios subject or scene from the Bible or Dante’s divine comedy
Blake the poet
• He rejected neoclassical literary style and themes
• He stressed the importance of imagination
• He believed that ideal forms aren’t created form the nature’s observation but form imagination
• He wrote two collections of short lyrical verses: Songs of Innocence and Song of Experience.
• The first is in the pastoral mode and is full of symbolic images like the lamb, childrens and flowers, all connected with happyness and innocence because he wrote this collection before the French Revolution.
• The second is more complex and a more pessimistic view of life emerges in these songs that are connected with adulthood and experience.
Blake the prophet
• Blake wrote some prophetic books like: the marriage of heaven and hell,America, Europe.
• Trough his works he attaks the repression of human energiesby conventions and his need of joy and freedom.
• He published them with paintings couloured by himself
Complemetary opposites
• Blake believed in the reality of a spiritual world but he tough that Christianity was responsible for the fragmentation of the consciousness and the dualism that charachterise man’s life. So he has a vision of complementary opposites like male and female,good and evil,reason and imagination.
Style
• Blake used a complex symbolism but his language is simple
• His verse are characterised by repetitions
Blake’s interest in social problems
• He supported the abolition of slavery and the egalitarian principles of french revolution
• In his poems he simpathised with the victims of industrial society
Domande da interrogazione
- Quali sono stati i principali influssi letterari e artistici nella vita di William Blake?
- Come si differenziano le due raccolte poetiche di Blake, "Songs of Innocence" e "Songs of Experience"?
- Qual è la visione di Blake riguardo agli opposti complementari e alla religione?
Blake è stato profondamente influenzato dalla Bibbia e ha studiato le opere di Raffaello e Michelangelo, imparando a rappresentare corpi muscolosi. Ha creato uno stile unico che unisce arti visive e scrittura, noto come stampa illuminata.
"Songs of Innocence" è caratterizzata da un tono pastorale e simboli di felicità e innocenza, mentre "Songs of Experience" offre una visione più complessa e pessimistica della vita, legata all'età adulta e all'esperienza.
Blake credeva nella realtà di un mondo spirituale e vedeva il cristianesimo come responsabile della frammentazione della coscienza. La sua visione includeva opposti complementari come maschio e femmina, bene e male, ragione e immaginazione.
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