William Blake and the Impossible History of the 1790s
Saree Makdisi
Abstract
Modern scholars often find it difficult to account for the profound eccentricities in the work of William Blake, dismissing them as either ahistorical or simply meaningless. But this study develops a reliable and comprehensive framework for understanding these peculiarities. According to the author, Blake's poetry and drawings should compel us to reconsider the history of the 1790s. Tracing the many links among economics, politics, and religion in his work, the author shows how Blake questioned and even subverted the commercial, consumerist, and political liberties that his contemporaries cham ... More
Keywords: William Blake, eccentricities, poetry, drawings, 1790s, economics, politics, religion, radical aesthetic, political liberties
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2002 | Print ISBN-13: 9780226502595 |
| Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: February 2013 | DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226502618.001.0001 |
