Personal Life of William Blake in Marriage of Heaven and Hell - Essay Example

? Reflections of William Blake’s Personal Life on His “Marriage of Heaven and Hell” Module Module no: Submitted Submitted by: date: William Blake is unanimously viewed as one of the greatest poets of English Literature by the critics and analysts, who left indelible imprints of his intellect and creativity on art, literature and society at large by dint of his gifted talent, vivid imagination and strong visionary capabilities. Although his contemporary critics could not assess his poetic talent and abilities, yet the future generations acknowledged his worth as a proficient author of all times. His talent is not confined to poetry only; on the other hand, he rendered his services in paintings, drawing, sculpture and printmaking. Besides, Blake also displayed his worth as a Biblical scholar by creating visual arts in the light of his belief in Christianity and Biblical mythology. However, he did not favor the imposition of orthodoxy and the set of conventional belief as well in individual and collective life; on the contrary, he always appeared to be an extremely freedom-loving person, who seeks relief and excitement in the principles of liberty, justice and equality. It was his belief in fraternity and liberty that revered the French Revolution of 1789 with tremendous enthusiasm and penned down his famous work under the title to applause individual freedom of thought and action on the one hand, and the doctrine of justice and fair play on the other. It is his love for liberty that urged him to create his magnificent Marriage of Heaven and Hell, in which he criticizes the restrictions and limitations the religious teachings implement upon humans. Consequently, he supports seeking escape in the acts that are strictly forbidden in the eyes of morality, and thus are attributed to hell actually. Blake’s Marriage of Heaven and Hell reflects his dexterity for producing such a gorgeous and noteworthy work as well as his command over the fundamental Christian teachings in their depth. The work also exhibits his profound interest in spirituality, with which he had been affiliated since his early childhood. From the whirlpool of materialism and cupidity, there appeared one man on the horizon of literature, which was frequently called as insane by the fellow beings, yet he maintained an exulting insanity, the divine frenzy of vision and prophecy. (Evans, 2004: 65) Hence, apparently rebel of materialistic approach, Black proved himself as the human that had been bestowed with the visionary to experience the divine whirl of thoughtfulness in his real life. Blake declares the commands of religion as unwanted restrictions on human free will, which turns life dull, dismal and stagnant. As a result, man has to surrender the countless joys and colors life offers to him. Additionally, man is deprived of an exciting and ecstatic life with the promise of entering into the heaven in the world Hereinafter. On the other hand, hell is full of energy and vivacity, because it allows the humans to take advantage of the time and opportunities whenever they obtain during the course of life. Thus, religious restrictions make all activities drab and still, while satanic forces encourage humans to drink from the goblet of life till one becomes completely gratified. Somehow, since unchecked acts may destroy the excitement of the soul as well as may challenge the very peace and harmony of society, there should be arranged marriage between good and evil (or heaven and hell), which may let the people to get indulged into revelries of different kinds without destroying the rights and privileges of the others. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence. From these contraries spring what the religious call Good and Evil. Good is the passive that obeys reason; Evil is the active springing from Energy. (Blake, 1794: 6) Black views human body and soul as indispensible to each other, where the energy is attributed to the former, while reason is dedicated to the latter. Since energy is produced through evil or carnal desires reason is generated through good, both evil and good are inevitable for the successful and jubilant survival of humans during their life on the face of the earth. The Biblical teachings state that God will inflict punishments upon man in the world hereinafter for following his Energies or evil. However, escaping from evil is almost impossible for humans provided they contain innate inclinations towards evil. Furthermore, man’s soul encourages him to comply with the commands of the Lord by doing good in his individual and collective life. Since humans can neither completely follow the good, nor are they in a position, because of their innate characteristics, to absolutely escape the evil in the real sense, so they remain between the two extremes throughout their life. (Blake, 1794) Sometimes reason overcomes energy, and man appears to be dedicated to performing good and adopting compassion and benevolence towards the fellow-beings. And may a times energy dominates over human soul and reason and forces man to commit sins, crimes and offences of various types, which cannot be resisted altogether. As a result, there must be a state of compromise or union of permanent basis, so that both reason and energy could be skillfully availed by the humans. Blake looks enthusiastic to discover the world that provides more comforts, delights and independence of exercising his will to take pleasure in life. Blake had produced the work under examination during the last decade of eighteenth century. It was the era when both the USA and France had witnessed revolutions in 1776 and 1789 respectively with the slogan of granting wide ranged emancipation to the individuals belonging to divergent ethno-racial and religious groups. Thus, American Revolution gave the message of release from slavery and discrimination, while the French revolution announced eradication of privileges to royalty, nobility and clergy they had been enjoying for centuries. Thus, in the pursuit of autonomy, Blake partially prefers the life of sin and evil to virtue and good just to break the shackles of constraints religion imposes on man. Violating the principles of morality, is supportive for having worldly gains according to the poet, as he states that pity would be no more if we did not make somebody poor; and mercy nor more could be if all are as happy as we. (Blake: the Human Abstract) Cruelty, hypocrisy, poverty, misuse of the intellect, distrust of the imagination, political and ecclesiastical institutions and frustration of desire are associated with the evils which combine to corrupt and destroy. (Daiches, 2005: 868) Blake led an adventurous life with one unsuccessful love affair and a happy marriage union. But he demands for more independence in sexual point of view. “Without contraries is no progression” is the slogan of the poet in the book under analysis. It is therefore he displays his consent to extra marital relations including adultery, dissipation and homosexuality even, as these exciting activities keep humans fresh, alert, satiated and mentally relieved. On the contrary, continuous suppression of wishes and desires push humans towards the state of fear of punishment, agony and uncertainty. Additionally, lack of vigorous amusement and recreation turns man depressed and unhappy. The same could be seen in Blake’s personal life too, where his verses and drawing vehemently exhibit flow of entertainment in them. However, it does mean that Blake led a life of adultery and fornication, and remained involved into relationships with other women. Actually love and sex are sacred in Blake’s viewpoint, as both of them bless humans with mental gratification and physical pleasure as well. Somehow, he seeks permission for both love and sex on voluntary basis, where no recreational activity could be made on the basis of forcibility and unwillingness, and voluntary unbound sexual activities are fair, tolerable and reasonable in the Blake’s eyes. Consequently, reason must be there as a life-partner through marriage between heaven and hell to regulate the activities humans practice to quench their unflinching wishes and desires at large. Hence, Blake mere advocates for few more liberties the church had introduced for the Christian community, though he does not allow unbridled carrying out of dissipation and debauchery. The work under analysis also alludes to Blake’s political ideas and career. Being a torch-bearer of equality and arch-supporter of French Revolution, Blake vehemently abhorred slavery and class discrimination in any form. The same elements could be found in his drawing of a black African, who had been hanged alive by the racist whites. He condemns racial prejudice and hatred in his famous the Little Black Boy (in the collection Songs of Innocence), by declaring that since Africa is situated in southern part of the globe, living in that region turns the skin of the Africans black. Thus, being black or white is not the matter of shame or pride respectively. Twentieth century novelist Harper Lee has also pointed out towards the same bitter reality of apartheid in his To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), where a young black, Tom Robinson, is sentenced for developing sexual relationships with a white girl of his acquaintance with the consent of the girl called Mayella Ewell. It is therefore Blake rejects punishments and penalties against the moral sins willingly committed by the parties, because the blacks were punished on the basis of lame excuses and false allegations during eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Somehow, he does not allow breaking of law or committing of crimes and offences against the state as well as against the members of society at any cost. Blake had thoroughly studied Milton’s illustrious Paradise Lost (1667), where Satan is aptly regarded as the central figure of the great epic. Satan, while addressing to Beelzebub and other fellow rebel angels, urges them to remain firm and dauntless against the Lord, as by disobeying the Lord and practicing evil may provide them with the opportunities of satisfying carnal desires and pacifying the soul as well. Since Satan was at dominant position in the hell and was leading the entire community of rebels there, after his expulsion from the heaven, he was rejoicing his reign in the hell as Milton says through his mouth that ‘better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.’ (Paradise Lost, Book I, Line 263) To conclude, Blake aims to seek the combination of energy and reason for leading a peaceful, tranquil and satisfactory life. Since both evil and good are unavoidable due to the very fact that body and soul survive together, combination of which is essential for remaining alive on the earth. It is therefore, marriage or union between evil and good is vehemently inevitable one. Blake had strong belief in God, Christ, Bible, Heaven, Hell and Eternity, which can easily be observed by going through all his works, drawings and paintings, as he depicted Biblical themes in this writings and paintings. Somehow, he is not ready to suppress the delicate feelings and carnal desires, and seeks for getting permission to give vent to human thoughtfulness by getting involved into sexual union with any person of one’s choice, without any discrimination of class, community, race, religion and gender even, provided his free consent has been attained. Thus, autobiographical elements can be traced out in his distinguished work under examination. References Blake, William (1794/1975) The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Oxford University Press USA Facsimile Edition 1-82 Daiches, David. (2005) A Critical History of English Literature Secker & Warburg London 852-867 Evans, Ifor. (2004) A Short History of English Literature Penguin Books Sixth Edition 58-67 Lee, Harper. (1988) To Kill a Mockingbird Grand Central Publishing 8-37 Milton, John (2003) Paradise Lost Penguin Classics 3-28 Read More