The definition that Merteuil gives of love is very telling: "Don't you recall that love is, like medicine, only the art to help nature?" (Letter 10) the feelings that come naturally must be repressed or transformed by the art of love.
It is the advice that Merteuil herself follows in her affairs. When she describes the moments she shares with her lovers, her feelings are always half premeditation, half sentiment:
There, half out of premeditation, half from sentiment, I threw my arms around him and fell at his knees. 'To prepare you the surprise of this moment,' I said, 'I reproach myself for having troubled you with an appearance of ill-humour, with having veiled for an instant my heart from your gaze. Forgive these faults, I will expiate them by my love.' You may imagine the effect of that sentimental discourse. The happy Chevalier raised me and my pardon was sealed on the same ottoman upon which you and I so gaily and in the same way sealed our eternal separation."(Letter 10)
However, the novel's strength comes in contrasting this king of selfish and dominating love, with the other variant, also given in Blake's poem:
Love seeketh not Itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care;
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a heaven in Hell's despair."(Blake, 211)
The love that does not seek to please itself but is genuine and sincere is primarily that of other characters in the novel, like Cecile, at least in the beginning, and Madame de Tourvel. However, this understanding of love is also valid, in a way, in the case of the Marquise and the Vicomte. It is easily noticeable that the two actually force themselves into embracing the other ideal of love which seems to gratify their dominating natures. It is an act of will on their part, and they are their own creations, as Merteuil notices: "I carried this zeal so far as voluntarily to inflict pains upon myself while looking...
Thus, Blake presents an explicit condemnation not only of organized religion, but specifically those religions which seek official legitimization and control over non-adherents; considering that the Church of England was (and is) the official religion of England, whose leader simultaneously serves as the head of state, Blake's condemnation of religions and religious adherents who presume to "[govern] the unwilling" must be recognized for the rebellious and almost revolutionary statement
William Blake's "The Lamb" is part of his manuscript for Songs of Innocence (Erdman, 1988, p. 72). As such, there is a light, jubilant tone rendered throughout, which pervades the poem's theme, subject, narrator, and setting. Within this poem, an unidentified narrator directly addresses a lamb. The principle motif that this work revolves about is the time honored conceit of a lamb representing Jesus Christ and the mercy and kindness
William Blake Although he was misunderstood and underappreciated throughout his lifetime, William Blake and his work only truly became influential after his death in 1827 (William Blake, 2014). Although he is best known for his poetry, Blake also created a significant amount of art work and other publications throughout his life. Despite the fact that his work found no profound audience during his life, Williams Blake was nonetheless a visionary, whose
William Blake is usually classified with the Romantic movement in English literature -- which coalesced in the revolutionary climate of the late eighteenth century, and roughly spanned the period from 1780 to 1830. The Romantic movement spanned a time of enormous social change in Britain. Not only was this a period of time that witnessed revolutions in America (1776) and France (1789), Britain itself would have to subdue a rebellion
William Blake was never fully appreciated in his own time but is still an influence on literary, political and theological analyses long after his death. While the amount of modern literary criticism that now exists should hold testament to his importance, Blake and his visions, pastoral-like settings and illuminated writings shaped the modern literary canon and paved the way for others. Specifically his works "The Divine Image," its companion poem
William Blake was born in London in 1757, the son of a hosier. He attended a drawing school and was subsequently apprenticed to an engraver from 1772-9, before attending the Royal Academy as a student from 1779 to 1780. During this time he made his living as an engraver, producing illustrations for the book trade, and was also composing and illustrating his own poetical works. He married Catherine Boucher in
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now