Romanticism in the Arts

Illustrations created during the Romantic period centered on themes such as nature and the creative power of the human mind. William Blake was a great artist who was able to capture the themes of his poetry into his works of art. He was better known for his poetry rather than his art because his style greatly differed from the common style of art during the romantic era. In a scholarly journal about Blake it states, “When you look at Blake's paintings and watercolors you'll readily understand why his art was neglected, dismissed or vigorously rejected throughout his life and for decades thereafter. Colors scream with a flame-like quality. His men and women look like creatures from outer space. And his image of God is that of an old man with bristling looks and muscular arms that further emphasize unreality” (Stern). Blake was very interested in prophecy, which was a common topic of poetry during the era. He focused on futuristic themes that made his artwork stick out in a negative way to the public.

One of Blake’s creations known as Age Teaching Youth foreshadows the theme of nature. An analysis of the picture states, “It has been suggested that the leaf and tendril motif on the dress of the youth in the foreground (who seems to be drawing) identifies him as representative of a mind limited to nature and its imitation. The old man might represent the law, which is contradicted by the girl who, gesturing heavenwards towards the infinite, might represent imagination” (Tate Collection…). The child in the painting would represent a more optimistic view of the world appealing to the child’s innocence in society foreshadowing Blake’s poem called From Songs of Innocence. The elderly man could represent the meaning of reality in the world and foreshadow one of the meanings of Blake’s poem called From Songs of Experience. The painting parallels and contradicts nature and the aspect of innocence verses experience.

Another of Blake’s works called Lear and Cordelia in Prison portrays a scene in the Shakespearian play King Lear. The painting shows when Edmund kept Cordelia and Lear imprisoned. A document about romantic prisons states, “The prison was the central institutional means for silencing dissent in 1790 Britain” it further goes on to state, “ The birth of ‘prison literature’ is twin to the birth of British Romanticism”(Bugg 37). Blake’s painting foreshadows “prison literature” and reveals the theme in writing during the era known as the creative power of human kind. Prison literature was written in a time when many poets and writers feared imprisonment and the literature was written by poets and writers who experienced life in a jail (Bugg 37). Wordsworth uses the idea of “mind in a state of confinement” in his works and Blake portrays this idea in Lear and Cordelia in Prison (Bugg 44).



Works Cited:

Blake, William. Age Teaching Youth. 1785-90. Tate Collection. Tate Online. Web.4 Apr.2011.

Blake, William. Lear and Cordelia in Prison. 1779. Tate Collection. Tate Online. Web. 4 Apr.2011.

Bugg, John. "Close confinement: John Thelwall and the Romantic prison." European Romantic Review. 37-56. 2009. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 3 Apr. 2011.

Stern, Fred. "William Blake, Visionary Rebel." World & I 24.8 (2009): 1. MAS Ultra – School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 3 Apr. 2011.

"Tate Collection: British Art and International Modern and Contemporary Art." Tate: British and International Modern and Contemporary Art. Web. 05 Apr. 2011. .