One of the recurring themes that we saw was the use of opposites, such as color, to represent the contraries of heaven and hell. Blake placed darkness next to light to illustrate the difference between the two. On the pages with only an illustration of heaven or hell it was difficult to establish what was happening. While it was easy to identify whether it was heaven or hell, it was challenging to understand the context without its opposite to define it. It reinforces the idea that without dark there is no light, and without light there is no dark. If there is nothing to compare it to, there is no way to define it. On plate 14 the angel is shown embracing hell: “I beheld the angel who stretched out his arms embracing the flame of the fire, & he was consumed and arose as Elijah” (41). It seems like the flames of hell are reaching out toward the angel as the angel reaches for hell because he has been tempted by Satan to become a devil himself. Another recurring theme was the children that we saw in several illustrations. The important part of that was that the children were all on heaven’s side of the picture. The children represented the idea of innocence since they were in heaven, but there was also the devil next to them to show the comparison, and the obvious difference. One of the examples with the children was plate 4. Heaven and hell are side by side, and the devil is reaching out for the child. The man/woman appears to be shielding the child from the devil to protect its innocence. We also connected this to Blake’s outrage at the way children were treated during his time in London. We think that this represented how Blake thought children should be: innocent and happy. On plate 5 there is a man falling into hell. This plate was the one about Milton: “The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels & God, and at liberty when of Devils & Hell, is because he was a true Poet of the Devils party without knowing it” (30). We thought that, with the text, the picture was Milton, unaware of what he’s done in favor of the devil, falling into the pits of hell. This was part of the recurring theme of people being tempted by the devil and hell, and people’s attempt at denying it.
Some themes that we noticed when we were reading and will be looking for in the illustrations are fire (Hell), black and white (right and wrong), blood/red/crimson.
On the first plate we see a lot of humans, all of them in pairs, all of them touching. There is a division between Heaven and Hell but the clouds and trees of Heaven connect to the fire of Hell. The two central people also seem to be bridging the gap between worlds—one is from the Heaven side of the print, the other from Hell—but they meet in the middle.
The first plate of the Argument seems to be Heaven, while the second plate contrasts it with a vision of Hell.
The fifth plate interested us. We think that the illustration depicts a fall or decent into Hell, perhaps as a result of desire. The cross seems to falling with them as if they abandoned religion for desire as Blake speaks about. The print is full of darkness, fire, and blood. In the center, however, there is blue water falling to quench the fires of Hell. Perhaps Blake meant to infer that by understanding Hell we will diminish its evil mystique.
Plate ten stood out to us because it seems to embody the idea that “Truth can never be told so as to be understood” (34). Blake considered himself a sort of prophet and to convey his truth, he wrote his ideas down. The figure on the left seems to be doing this while the other two figures wait impatiently.
“The Giants who formed this world into its sensual existence and now seem to live in it in chains” are represented on plate sixteen (37). Their bowed heads convey defeat. There are no literal chains, but rather a sense that the Giants disapprove of the way in which people use these gifts they gave them.
Plate twenty is adorned with the image of a dragon swimming in a sea of blood from the murdered monkeys and baboons. We think that the dragon is a metaphor for evil. It is also clear that Blake’s choice of primates is no coincidence. They are the closest animal relation to humans and they are in chaos. Any order that once prevailed is gone. They are their own enemy, much like humans are, or have the potential to be.
Our group found that it was easier to comment on plates that had some contrast between Heaven and Hell. The contrast and the way in which it was portrayed immediately drew attention and analysis. We struggled on plates such as twenty where there was only Hell.
William Blake’s “Marriage of Heaven and Hell” discusses the paradoxes of our society. He states: “Without contraries there is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence” (29). The pictures throughout the collection of express Blake’s idea that although good and evil, and heaven and hell, are seen as opposites to society, they are not as separate as one might think. For example, plate 7 is entitled “The Proverbs of Hell”, but it has a very calm blue background color. In plate 10 we also see the traditionally “evil” dark color pallet being used on the side that is seems to represent good. This theme is also seen in plate 11. The dark purple and yellow in the background gradually fade into each other, instead of having a solid boundary. This is one representation of Blake’s belief that “man has closed himself up...he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern” (36). Society is close minded; people categorize things as good or bad. Blake challenges this simplistic understanding in his writing and in his illustrations. The blur of what is good and what is evil is also displayed through the images of the Angel and Devil which are often hard to recognize. Plates such as number 3 have characters which are hard to identify. As we observed before, colors are not necessarily a good indication as Heaven is sometimes portrayed with dark colors and Hell portrayed with light. A similar example is in A Memorable Fancy, the “Angel stretched out his arms embracing the flame of fire, & he was consumed and arose as Elijah. Note. This Angel, who is now become a Devil, is now my particular friend” (41). Not only does this strengthen the idea of individual thinking apart from society and church influences, it asks the question of who we are looking at in the corresponding plate 24: the Angel, or Devil? Either is possible given the establishment that colors give no consistent indication of Heaven or Hell. Society’s misunderstanding of good and evil is represented in the corpse on plate 14. Blake speaks of “the world being consumed in fire” (36). When this happens, people will finally enjoy themselves, since the current state is “finite and corrupt” (36). The colorful body rising out of the grey corpse highlights how the new world will have an “improvement of sensual enjoyment” (36). Blake believes this change will help people recognize their false understanding of good and evil and Heaven and Hell.
Blake discusses the idea of heaven representing good and reason, and hell representing action springing from evil. This contrast between heaven and hell is reinforced by the starkly different colors used to backdrop paintings of hell and paintings of heaven. The heavenly settings are generally bluish, cooler colors that might represent heaven being in the sky. Hell, on the other hand, is often filled with deep reds and warm colors. This contrast is vividly evident on slide 4, where two human figures can be seen, one set in front of a bluish, ocean-like mass, the other in front of an inferno. Plate four also represents the ideas of restraint and desire. The man in the “heavenly” area is restraining the child, where as the man in “hell” has desire, reaching toward the other side. The next slide then depicts Messiah falling into the fiery abyss. This image we directly connected with the quote from the text: “It indeed appeared to Reason as if Desire was cast out, but the Devils account is that the Messiah fell, and formed a heaven of what he stole from the Abyss”. On Plate 10, there is a satanic creature and a man dressed in orange, watching a more stoic figure in blue write intently. The blue figure seems to represent the typical writer who was afraid to show any signs of “evil” in him. For instance, Blake embraced the idea that his techniques for creating the plates and poems came from infernal energy, a statement that most poets at his time would never admit too. The theme of believing in your own ideas rather than what the church believes can been seen in Plate 10 through the poets. The poet dressed in blue represents the poets who were afraid to voice their own opinions. Blake mentions this poet named Swedenborg who “written all the old falsehoods,” and followed the church. The image shows the poet in blue starting down, looking almost narrow minded. His narrow mindedness shows that he is unwilling to embrace the energy and passion that other poets, such as William Blake, used in order to write moving poems that challenged the popular opinions of others. Next in the picture is a satanic looking creature. The presence of the creature evokes Blake’s idea that “Good is the passive that obeys Reason. Evil is the active springing from Energy” (Blake 29). Blake and other poets who voiced their opinions at the time can be represented by the creature and the poet dressed in red because they represent the “evil” energy that comes from Hell. The same energy was used by poets who voiced their own opinions and challenged the institution.
On Plate 1, the top of the image seems to represent heaven (the sky; blueness; light), while the bottom of the plate represents hell (fire; redness; shadow). There are also many pairs of people, which reflects the “Marriage” part of the title, as does the way the lower half of the plate blends with the upper half. On Plate 2, the theme of contrast between heaven and hell, blue and red, continues. It looks as if the plant is dying in the reddish area, whereas in the blue area, it lives. The people on the right seem to reflect the the tree, the one in yellow, the trunk, holding the hand of the one in green, the leaves. The theme of man’s connection to nature in the poem, as in the the line “And the just man rages in the wild” (28), is reinforced by the image. In the image at the top of Plate 3, the dark red and brown streaks look like fire, which is connected to the idea of hell, but the woman in the image is reclining, which suggests passiveness, something that Blake connects to reason, good, and heaven. At the bottom of the plate, the image seems more like heaven because of the color scheme, but the men on the right are running, which is connected to energy, evil, and hell by the text. These conflicting ideas reinforce the line, “Without Contraries is no progression,” (29), because these contrary ideas are intertwined in the images. On Plate 4, on the left, it looks as if the person is holding a child, which could represent the innocence of the soul. The child is being held by a man, who is naked and in motion, which connects him to the idea of “Body,” Energy, and hell. The interaction between these images reflects the theme that “Man has no Body distinct from his soul,” (29) from the text. Plate 20 shows an image of a coiling reptile, possibly a dragon, digging through large mountains. It is either depicted within Hell or it is on Earth and the sky represents torment and evil overrunning the skies above and could be a sign of the apocalypse. Plate 21 shows a man sitting in front of the pyramids staring into the sky as the sun sets to the right, or perhaps is rising. The pyramids could be a possible sign. His other works showed images of triangles coming from the hand of God, and when the man was drawing on the ground Plate 24 shows an image of God on his hands and knees in front of a mountain. Blake goes on to write, “This Angel, who is now become a Devil, is my particular friend; we often read the Bible together in its infernal or diabolical sense which the world shall have if they behave well” (41). Perhaps God being on his hands and knees is to show that what is said in the Bible about Heaven isn’t as fantastic as it says it is to be.
One motif that was clear was the element of duality, opposition, and contraries. The first page sets the idea that the poem is going to be portraying two very different sets of ideas. Also the colors Blake uses in a lot of the slides are either blue and green or red and yellow. These colors seem as the opposites of each other, but are sometimes used interchangeably, like how he uses heaven and hell. On pages two and three it seems to depict straight hell, the way we “normally” view religion: “good is heaven. Evil is Hell” (29). Page two seems like heaven, using green and blue, lively colors happiness, the “perfect” world, what people are supposed to want in heaven. Page three is dark and seems like the exact opposite and displaying hell. On page five there is a snake, although it is small, it represents the serpent in the story of Adam and Eve. Throughout the story Blake alludes to the serpent and its wisdom. He also uses many other animals in his poetry, like eagles, lions, and tigers. In page 15 there is a picture of a bird. On slide 16 there is a bearded man surrounded by other people who are huddled inside him, seeming to be protected by him. We thought he could be god and the people think they are being saved by him: “God only acts & Is, in existing beings of men” (37). It seems as though these people have formed this deity, God, and they think he/she can change their lives, when really God lives within each person. Also on slide 21 there is an angelic looking man, probably an angel, who seems to view himself highly, positioned next to the pyramids. He is looking up to the sky, like heaven. He symbolizes magnificence and vanity. He also represents Swedenborg, who thought of himself very highly, when really Blake thought he was superficial, and only re-wrote what everyone else has said.
Kieran and Ashley In the first slide it appears that each side of the artwork represents heaven and hell. We noticed that these are both underground which could connect to Blake’s idea in the text that both good and evil, energy and reason, are necessary to our existence. There are also two beings on each side that look as if they’re embracing and kissing. Suggesting literally the marriage of heaven and hell. Slide 5 also interested us. This one shows a man with his horse falling into flames. In the background is what we interpreted as a cross, also falling. The text below it starts with, "Those who restrain desire do so because theirs is weak enough to restrain", this is page 30 of the packet. We thought that the man falling into the flames could represent the theme of letting go to evil; because its not all bad. We also thought that maybe the cross falling into the flames could represent Blake's disagreement with the ways of the church. The next slide that captured our attention was slide number ten on page 33. This text is part of the "Proverbs of Hell". We thought that the man in the picture was either an angel or a devil. If its an angel then we thought that he was giving this information to the women around him and making them copy it. This would show how the church has stopped people from perceiving things the way that they want to see them; they are brainwashed. If the figure is a devil we figured that it was simply the devil showing people the way he thinks is right to live. We also looked at slide 21, on page 40. The text below this picture reads, "I have always found that Angels have the vanity to speak of themselves as the only wise". The picture shows a figure basking in the sunlight near pyramids. We thought that the figure represented an angel and he was sitting there thinking highly of himself. We weren't sure what the pyramids were supposed to show but the picture definitely gives off a feeling off arrogance and vanity, which is something that Blake thought was a big problem with religion. 15, This is the slide in which Blake’s process comes through in his text. “I was in the printing house in hell...” (15). The picture is of a giant bird holding a serpent and flying away with it. I suppose this could mean that he literally got carried away when writing “A Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” If he is the giant bird then the serpent or evil is in his hands. Perhaps this suggests his all knowing or grasp about the marriage of heaven and hell? 16, This slide contains the “...giants who formed this world into sensual existence” (16) and are now “living in chains” (16). The artwork shows a group of old men or “the giants” huddled together on the ground. These giants are forced to live in confinement because of the perceptions that we have created in our own minds about the world that they made for us. We do not understand the full potential of the world that they have created. They watch us do or think the “wrong” things about their world and are ashamed.
Billy and Matt The first motif we noticed was on plate 5, the picture is of a horse and man hanging over a fire surrounded by darkness. We associated the horse with energy because it has no saddle on representing freedom and strength. Evil springs from energy, and evil is associated with hell.”Good is Heaven. Evil is Hell.” (29) The man falling into the fire, but being untouched represents the falsehood of sins. Blake believed that church perceived sins were just another way for the church to control peoples actions. On plate 21 Blake depicts am angel sitting atop a pile of sand with a skull buried beneath him, poking itself up for the angel to view. On the plate Blake states his view on angels as beings who “...have the vanity to speak of themselves as the only wise.”(plate 21) The picture of the man shows the reader Blake’s feeling of the Church as an organization. Angels are associated with God and the church so the ideas and actions of angels can be viewed as the ideals of the church. The angels view themselves as the only intelligent beings, and the church, like wise, views itself as word of law. The skull the angel is sitting on further represents the church’s control over the community. If the angel is willing to defile the sanctity of death, they must view themselves as better than all others. Looking back at plate 3, Blake drew a woman at the top surrounded by fire, and two people on the bottom surrounded by clouds. The picture on top is a depiction of hell while the bottom is a depiction of heaven. We think Blake was trying to draw this picture to go along with the common perception of heaven and hell: “Good is the passive that obeys Reason. Evil is the active springing from energy. Good is Heaven. Evil is Hell.” (29) Heaven is often pictured as a land surrounded by clouds, where Hell is a land surrounded by flames. Everywhere else in the text, though, Blake tries to defy these common perceptions and draw pictures that show Heaven and Hell as similar. 358 words exactly Cha-Yeah
Wow, it seems like so long since this class. Weird. I wonder if anyone has looked at this page since then. That's pretty interesting to think about, actually. In the functionally infinite expanse of the internet, this post will stand as a monument to lost thoughts. These stray ideas will never begin a revolution, will never change someone's life, and are probably not even enough to give one momentary pause. They will remain forever trapped in remote corners of an ever-expanding realm, inconsequential and forgotten.
Wow! It's true! No one actually looks at these pages anymore! You could write anything you wanted on these pages and no one would notice! ... Not that that's something to be taken advantage of, certainly.
Sydney and Devon
ReplyDeleteOne of the recurring themes that we saw was the use of opposites, such as color, to represent the contraries of heaven and hell. Blake placed darkness next to light to illustrate the difference between the two. On the pages with only an illustration of heaven or hell it was difficult to establish what was happening. While it was easy to identify whether it was heaven or hell, it was challenging to understand the context without its opposite to define it. It reinforces the idea that without dark there is no light, and without light there is no dark. If there is nothing to compare it to, there is no way to define it.
On plate 14 the angel is shown embracing hell: “I beheld the angel who stretched out his arms embracing the flame of the fire, & he was consumed and arose as Elijah” (41). It seems like the flames of hell are reaching out toward the angel as the angel reaches for hell because he has been tempted by Satan to become a devil himself.
Another recurring theme was the children that we saw in several illustrations. The important part of that was that the children were all on heaven’s side of the picture. The children represented the idea of innocence since they were in heaven, but there was also the devil next to them to show the comparison, and the obvious difference. One of the examples with the children was plate 4. Heaven and hell are side by side, and the devil is reaching out for the child. The man/woman appears to be shielding the child from the devil to protect its innocence. We also connected this to Blake’s outrage at the way children were treated during his time in London. We think that this represented how Blake thought children should be: innocent and happy.
On plate 5 there is a man falling into hell. This plate was the one about Milton: “The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels & God, and at liberty when of Devils & Hell, is because he was a true Poet of the Devils party without knowing it” (30). We thought that, with the text, the picture was Milton, unaware of what he’s done in favor of the devil, falling into the pits of hell. This was part of the recurring theme of people being tempted by the devil and hell, and people’s attempt at denying it.
Elizabeth, Jonathan, and Karleen
ReplyDeleteSome themes that we noticed when we were reading and will be looking for in the illustrations are fire (Hell), black and white (right and wrong), blood/red/crimson.
On the first plate we see a lot of humans, all of them in pairs, all of them touching. There is a division between Heaven and Hell but the clouds and trees of Heaven connect to the fire of Hell. The two central people also seem to be bridging the gap between worlds—one is from the Heaven side of the print, the other from Hell—but they meet in the middle.
The first plate of the Argument seems to be Heaven, while the second plate contrasts it with a vision of Hell.
The fifth plate interested us. We think that the illustration depicts a fall or decent into Hell, perhaps as a result of desire. The cross seems to falling with them as if they abandoned religion for desire as Blake speaks about. The print is full of darkness, fire, and blood. In the center, however, there is blue water falling to quench the fires of Hell. Perhaps Blake meant to infer that by understanding Hell we will diminish its evil mystique.
Plate ten stood out to us because it seems to embody the idea that “Truth can never be told so as to be understood” (34). Blake considered himself a sort of prophet and to convey his truth, he wrote his ideas down. The figure on the left seems to be doing this while the other two figures wait impatiently.
“The Giants who formed this world into its sensual existence and now seem to live in it in chains” are represented on plate sixteen (37). Their bowed heads convey defeat. There are no literal chains, but rather a sense that the Giants disapprove of the way in which people use these gifts they gave them.
Plate twenty is adorned with the image of a dragon swimming in a sea of blood from the murdered monkeys and baboons. We think that the dragon is a metaphor for evil. It is also clear that Blake’s choice of primates is no coincidence. They are the closest animal relation to humans and they are in chaos. Any order that once prevailed is gone. They are their own enemy, much like humans are, or have the potential to be.
Our group found that it was easier to comment on plates that had some contrast between Heaven and Hell. The contrast and the way in which it was portrayed immediately drew attention and analysis. We struggled on plates such as twenty where there was only Hell.
Rosie, Hannah, and Kylie’s Amazing Group Analysis
ReplyDeleteWilliam Blake’s “Marriage of Heaven and Hell” discusses the paradoxes of our society. He states: “Without contraries there is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence” (29). The pictures throughout the collection of express Blake’s idea that although good and evil, and heaven and hell, are seen as opposites to society, they are not as separate as one might think. For example, plate 7 is entitled “The Proverbs of Hell”, but it has a very calm blue background color. In plate 10 we also see the traditionally “evil” dark color pallet being used on the side that is seems to represent good.
This theme is also seen in plate 11. The dark purple and yellow in the background gradually fade into each other, instead of having a solid boundary. This is one representation of Blake’s belief that “man has closed himself up...he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern” (36). Society is close minded; people categorize things as good or bad. Blake challenges this simplistic understanding in his writing and in his illustrations.
The blur of what is good and what is evil is also displayed through the images of the Angel and Devil which are often hard to recognize. Plates such as number 3 have characters which are hard to identify. As we observed before, colors are not necessarily a good indication as Heaven is sometimes portrayed with dark colors and Hell portrayed with light.
A similar example is in A Memorable Fancy, the “Angel stretched out his arms embracing the flame of fire, & he was consumed and arose as Elijah. Note. This Angel, who is now become a Devil, is now my particular friend” (41). Not only does this strengthen the idea of individual thinking apart from society and church influences, it asks the question of who we are looking at in the corresponding plate 24: the Angel, or Devil? Either is possible given the establishment that colors give no consistent indication of Heaven or Hell.
Society’s misunderstanding of good and evil is represented in the corpse on plate 14. Blake speaks of “the world being consumed in fire” (36). When this happens, people will finally enjoy themselves, since the current state is “finite and corrupt” (36). The colorful body rising out of the grey corpse highlights how the new world will have an “improvement of sensual enjoyment” (36). Blake believes this change will help people recognize their false understanding of good and evil and Heaven and Hell.
Blake discusses the idea of heaven representing good and reason, and hell representing action springing from evil. This contrast between heaven and hell is reinforced by the starkly different colors used to backdrop paintings of hell and paintings of heaven. The heavenly settings are generally bluish, cooler colors that might represent heaven being in the sky. Hell, on the other hand, is often filled with deep reds and warm colors. This contrast is vividly evident on slide 4, where two human figures can be seen, one set in front of a bluish, ocean-like mass, the other in front of an inferno. Plate four also represents the ideas of restraint and desire. The man in the “heavenly” area is restraining the child, where as the man in “hell” has desire, reaching toward the other side. The next slide then depicts Messiah falling into the fiery abyss. This image we directly connected with the quote from the text: “It indeed appeared to Reason as if Desire was cast out, but the Devils account is that the Messiah fell, and formed a heaven of what he stole from the Abyss”.
ReplyDeleteOn Plate 10, there is a satanic creature and a man dressed in orange, watching a more stoic figure in blue write intently. The blue figure seems to represent the typical writer who was afraid to show any signs of “evil” in him. For instance, Blake embraced the idea that his techniques for creating the plates and poems came from infernal energy, a statement that most poets at his time would never admit too. The theme of believing in your own ideas rather than what the church believes can been seen in Plate 10 through the poets. The poet dressed in blue represents the poets who were afraid to voice their own opinions. Blake mentions this poet named Swedenborg who “written all the old falsehoods,” and followed the church. The image shows the poet in blue starting down, looking almost narrow minded. His narrow mindedness shows that he is unwilling to embrace the energy and passion that other poets, such as William Blake, used in order to write moving poems that challenged the popular opinions of others. Next in the picture is a satanic looking creature. The presence of the creature evokes Blake’s idea that “Good is the passive that obeys Reason. Evil is the active springing from Energy” (Blake 29). Blake and other poets who voiced their opinions at the time can be represented by the creature and the poet dressed in red because they represent the “evil” energy that comes from Hell. The same energy was used by poets who voiced their own opinions and challenged the institution.
That was from GABE, JOSSEYLN, and Anna!!
ReplyDeleteZoë and Chad
ReplyDeleteOn Plate 1, the top of the image seems to represent heaven (the sky; blueness; light), while the bottom of the plate represents hell (fire; redness; shadow). There are also many pairs of people, which reflects the “Marriage” part of the title, as does the way the lower half of the plate blends with the upper half.
On Plate 2, the theme of contrast between heaven and hell, blue and red, continues. It looks as if the plant is dying in the reddish area, whereas in the blue area, it lives. The people on the right seem to reflect the the tree, the one in yellow, the trunk, holding the hand of the one in green, the leaves. The theme of man’s connection to nature in the poem, as in the the line “And the just man rages in the wild” (28), is reinforced by the image.
In the image at the top of Plate 3, the dark red and brown streaks look like fire, which is connected to the idea of hell, but the woman in the image is reclining, which suggests passiveness, something that Blake connects to reason, good, and heaven. At the bottom of the plate, the image seems more like heaven because of the color scheme, but the men on the right are running, which is connected to energy, evil, and hell by the text. These conflicting ideas reinforce the line, “Without Contraries is no progression,” (29), because these contrary ideas are intertwined in the images.
On Plate 4, on the left, it looks as if the person is holding a child, which could represent the innocence of the soul. The child is being held by a man, who is naked and in motion, which connects him to the idea of “Body,” Energy, and hell. The interaction between these images reflects the theme that “Man has no Body distinct from his soul,” (29) from the text.
Plate 20 shows an image of a coiling reptile, possibly a dragon, digging through
large mountains. It is either depicted within Hell or it is on Earth and the sky
represents torment and evil overrunning the skies above and could be a sign of
the apocalypse.
Plate 21 shows a man sitting in front of the pyramids staring into the sky as the
sun sets to the right, or perhaps is rising. The pyramids could be a possible sign.
His other works showed images of triangles coming from the hand of God, and
when the man was drawing on the ground
Plate 24 shows an image of God on his hands and knees in front of a mountain.
Blake goes on to write, “This Angel, who is now become a Devil, is my particular
friend; we often read the Bible together in its infernal or diabolical sense which
the world shall have if they behave well” (41). Perhaps God being on his hands
and knees is to show that what is said in the Bible about Heaven isn’t as fantastic
as it says it is to be.
Emily And Simon
ReplyDeleteOne motif that was clear was the element of duality, opposition, and contraries. The first page sets the idea that the poem is going to be portraying two very different sets of ideas. Also the colors Blake uses in a lot of the slides are either blue and green or red and yellow. These colors seem as the opposites of each other, but are sometimes used interchangeably, like how he uses heaven and hell.
On pages two and three it seems to depict straight hell, the way we “normally” view religion: “good is heaven. Evil is Hell” (29). Page two seems like heaven, using green and blue, lively colors happiness, the “perfect” world, what people are supposed to want in heaven. Page three is dark and seems like the exact opposite and displaying hell.
On page five there is a snake, although it is small, it represents the serpent in the story of Adam and Eve. Throughout the story Blake alludes to the serpent and its wisdom. He also uses many other animals in his poetry, like eagles, lions, and tigers. In page 15 there is a picture of a bird.
On slide 16 there is a bearded man surrounded by other people who are huddled inside him, seeming to be protected by him. We thought he could be god and the people think they are being saved by him: “God only acts & Is, in existing beings of men” (37). It seems as though these people have formed this deity, God, and they think he/she can change their lives, when really God lives within each person.
Also on slide 21 there is an angelic looking man, probably an angel, who seems to view himself highly, positioned next to the pyramids. He is looking up to the sky, like heaven. He symbolizes magnificence and vanity. He also represents Swedenborg, who thought of himself very highly, when really Blake thought he was superficial, and only re-wrote what everyone else has said.
Kieran and Ashley
ReplyDeleteIn the first slide it appears that each side of the artwork represents heaven and hell. We noticed that these are both underground which could connect to Blake’s idea in the text that both good and evil, energy and reason, are necessary to our existence. There are also two beings on each side that look as if they’re embracing and kissing. Suggesting literally the marriage of heaven and hell.
Slide 5 also interested us. This one shows a man with his horse falling into flames. In the background is what we interpreted as a cross, also falling. The text below it starts with, "Those who restrain desire do so because theirs is weak enough to restrain", this is page 30 of the packet. We thought that the man falling into the flames could represent the theme of letting go to evil; because its not all bad. We also thought that maybe the cross falling into the flames could represent Blake's disagreement with the ways of the church.
The next slide that captured our attention was slide number ten on page 33. This text is part of the "Proverbs of Hell". We thought that the man in the picture was either an angel or a devil. If its an angel then we thought that he was giving this information to the women around him and making them copy it. This would show how the church has stopped people from perceiving things the way that they want to see them; they are brainwashed. If the figure is a devil we figured that it was simply the devil showing people the way he thinks is right to live.
We also looked at slide 21, on page 40. The text below this picture reads, "I have always found that Angels have the vanity to speak of themselves as the only wise". The picture shows a figure basking in the sunlight near pyramids. We thought that the figure represented an angel and he was sitting there thinking highly of himself. We weren't sure what the pyramids were supposed to show but the picture definitely gives off a feeling off arrogance and vanity, which is something that Blake thought was a big problem with religion.
15, This is the slide in which Blake’s process comes through in his text. “I was in the printing house in hell...” (15). The picture is of a giant bird holding a serpent and flying away with it. I suppose this could mean that he literally got carried away when writing “A Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” If he is the giant bird then the serpent or evil is in his hands. Perhaps this suggests his all knowing or grasp about the marriage of heaven and hell?
16, This slide contains the “...giants who formed this world into sensual existence” (16) and are now “living in chains” (16). The artwork shows a group of old men or “the giants” huddled together on the ground. These giants are forced to live in confinement because of the perceptions that we have created in our own minds about the world that they made for us. We do not understand the full potential of the world that they have created. They watch us do or think the “wrong” things about their world and are ashamed.
Billy and Matt
ReplyDeleteThe first motif we noticed was on plate 5, the picture is of a horse and man hanging over a fire surrounded by darkness. We associated the horse with energy because it has no saddle on representing freedom and strength. Evil springs from energy, and evil is associated with hell.”Good is Heaven. Evil is Hell.” (29) The man falling into the fire, but being untouched represents the falsehood of sins. Blake believed that church perceived sins were just another way for the church to control peoples actions.
On plate 21 Blake depicts am angel sitting atop a pile of sand with a skull buried beneath him, poking itself up for the angel to view. On the plate Blake states his view on angels as beings who “...have the vanity to speak of themselves as the only wise.”(plate 21) The picture of the man shows the reader Blake’s feeling of the Church as an organization. Angels are associated with God and the church so the ideas and actions of angels can be viewed as the ideals of the church. The angels view themselves as the only intelligent beings, and the church, like wise, views itself as word of law. The skull the angel is sitting on further represents the church’s control over the community. If the angel is willing to defile the sanctity of death, they must view themselves as better than all others.
Looking back at plate 3, Blake drew a woman at the top surrounded by fire, and two people on the bottom surrounded by clouds. The picture on top is a depiction of hell while the bottom is a depiction of heaven. We think Blake was trying to draw this picture to go along with the common perception of heaven and hell: “Good is the passive that obeys Reason. Evil is the active springing from energy. Good is Heaven. Evil is Hell.” (29) Heaven is often pictured as a land surrounded by clouds, where Hell is a land surrounded by flames. Everywhere else in the text, though, Blake tries to defy these common perceptions and draw pictures that show Heaven and Hell as similar.
358 words exactly Cha-Yeah
Wow, it seems like so long since this class.
ReplyDeleteWeird.
I wonder if anyone has looked at this page since then. That's pretty interesting to think about, actually. In the functionally infinite expanse of the internet, this post will stand as a monument to lost thoughts. These stray ideas will never begin a revolution, will never change someone's life, and are probably not even enough to give one momentary pause. They will remain forever trapped in remote corners of an ever-expanding realm, inconsequential and forgotten.
Wow! It's true! No one actually looks at these pages anymore! You could write anything you wanted on these pages and no one would notice!
ReplyDelete...
Not that that's something to be taken advantage of, certainly.
Apparently some people look at it!
ReplyDelete