1. Blake and the French Revolution

See report on Stephen Philipson's web site.

2. Wordsworth

-- Project details to be supplied --

3. Comments

Interesting approaches to Blake's artwork and the ways it tied into the politics of the age. I especially liked the comparative analysis to other artwork in the period.

A discussion of the loss of / acceptance of freedoms leads me to wonder about the role of Christian values and how rights are ordained in the biblical sense. I would have liked to hear a discussion of Blake's "God as architect" -- the God of Genesis, architect of the universe, as the enemy of mankind.

Los, in fact, represents the fallen state of Urthona, which is an embodiment of imagination; Los, then, is imagination in the fallen world. As much as Blake was inspired by the French Revolution and England's reaction to it, The Book Urizen is, I believe, much more a re-writing of Paradise Lost and an elucidation of Blake's own mythology (his Genesis). The diorama (is that the right term?) was marvelously crafted. Pitting Burke against Blake is a useful way of teasing out the fluctuating reactions to the French Revolution on English soil; in the end, I think both predicted the failings of the Revolution.

Interesting to look at art history during Romanticism. Awakening the idea / connection of a poet/artist. Good choice of pictures; especially felt the pain and horror of the Revolution. Knows the history and critiques of the French Revolution.

Document created March 23, 1997