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Flashcards in William Blake context Deck (25)
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1
Q

What were Jean - Jacques Rousseau’s philosophical ideas? 3 points

A

Freedom should be a part of political life and legislation
Children were born good and can learn from experience
Formal education stops imagination

2
Q

Who was the first philosopher of Romanticism?

A

Rousseau

3
Q

In what year did Rousseau publish ‘Social Contracts’ and what was it about?

A

1762 about human society and rights

4
Q

Name the famous quote by Rousseau about mans freedom:

A

‘Man was born free but everywhere is found in chains’

5
Q

Define Romanticism:

A

A style of literature that was about the importance of imagination and emotions, interests in nature and rebellions against social rules or conventions

6
Q

What social and political upheavals are ‘Song of Innocence and Experience’ linked to?

A

French Revolution

American war of independence

7
Q

When was the American war of independence?

A

1755 to 1783

8
Q

Briefly, what happened in the American war?

A

Got rid of monarchy resulting in republicanism victory

9
Q

When was the French Revolution?

A

1789 - 1799

10
Q

What are 2 key dates involved in the Revolution?

A

1793 execution if King Louis XVI of France and beginning of reign of terror
1795 Napoleon rises to power

11
Q

What book did Thomas Paine publish and when?

A

Rights of man in 1792

12
Q

What did Thomas Paine attack in his work, ‘Rights of man’

A

Hereditary government

Monarchs and House of Lords

13
Q

What did Paine want in terms of political reform, from the ‘Rights of man’?

A

Equal political rights such as all men over 21 should be able to vote

14
Q

In Paines book ’The age of reason’, what did he attack?

A

Christianity
Government led by royalty
Hereditary power

15
Q

Which 2 radicals of the late 18th century did Blake meet?

A

Thomas Paine and Mary Wollstonecraft

16
Q

How can Thomas Paines rejection of the church be linked to London?

A

He said that the church was just set up to terrify and enslave mankind

17
Q

What was Mary Wollstonecraft‘ book called?

A

‘Vindication of the Rights of Women’

18
Q

What did Wollstonecraft’s book include?

A

Radical politics of Paine alongside a feminist critique of society

19
Q

When was Blake arrested and what for?

A

1803 for seditious writing

20
Q

Where did many of Blake’s radical ideas come from in the 18th century, other than the individuals he met?

A

The religious group called the Muggletonians

21
Q

What did the Muggletonians believe in?

A

The materialism of God as a person rather than all the theories behind him and the creation of the world

22
Q

Was Blake’s work inspired by individual suffering or wholesale social change?

A

Individual suffering - personal stories

23
Q

How does the Pre-Victorian era in which Blake worked, link to the idea of sexual freedom found in Blake’s poems?

A

Women weren’t allowed to show skin or even their ankles

Women had to hide skin so men wouldn’t get ‘passionate thoughts’ about them

24
Q

What did the industrial revolution create and how is thus significant for Blake’s work?

A

A working class not being treated well by employers (wages, living and working conditions) caused poverty to increase (key theme in his poetry’

25
Q

Name the 3 ‘freedoms’ that Blake’s work is based around:

A

Religious, sexual and individual