William Blakes London-Opression

The purpose of William Blake’s London is to reveal the oppression of the lower class citizens of London, by the aristocracy during the late 18th century. Blake uses various poetic devices in order to enhance the portrayal of the poems purpose to the reader. These devices include metaphor, symbolism, oxymoron, and repetition, all of which facilitate in the articulation of the poems purpose to the reader.

Blake utilises metaphor in the poem London to assist in the conveyance of the poem’s purpose to the reader. Metaphor is a key technique used in the poem as it assists in intensifying emotions in the reader, and allows the reader to more readily engage with the content of the poem. “Mind forged manacles” is an excerpt from the poem with powerful implications as it shows the mental oppression of the lower class citizens of London at the time. Manacles are invariably associated with things of a physical nature, yet in this metaphor Blake describes them as non-physical manacles of the mind, a very significant aspect of the poem as the mind is the freest part of an individual. This powerful metaphor insinuates that if the mind cannot be free then what else can? Which ultimately portrays the manifestation of oppression in all areas of

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The main reason for the churches failure to do anything about the impoverished and oppressed lower class was due to the fact that much of the revenue the church received was from the upper class aristocrats.

Blake uses symbolism as a powerful and effective device in portraying the poem’s purpose to the reader. This metaphor is made in reference to the war with France, which alludes to the fact that the soldiers, primarily made up of lower class males, were forced to give their lives for the state or the royal family. Blake’s use of repetition creates a resonating voice in the reader’s mind, of the lower class beating against the hard walls of oppression with each repeated word. Disease originated from the wealthy as due to them oppressing the lower class, the poor were forced to live in slums, eat poorly, and live poorly, all things, which promote disease.

Blake exploits the use of many well known poetic devices such as metaphor, oxymoron, symbolism, and repetition to better convey the poem’s purpose; the oppression of the lower class by the aristocracy. By repeating the word “charter’d” in the first two lines, Blake alludes to the fact that many of the streets of London are ‘owned’ by the aristocrats. An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two paradoxical terms are put together to catch the reader’s eye. The chimneysweepers of the time were almost always children due to their slight statures, and through the churches neglect to do anything to rectify the situation, they somewhat condone the appalling conditions and form of slavery, in which these children are placed. “How the chimneysweeper’s cry; every blackening church appals” exemplifies the churches failure to do anything about child labour and the oppression of the lower class by the aristocracy. In the second stanza of the poem “In every” is repeated three times. The word “mark” is used to represent the scars of oppression on the lower class citizens of London, which have taken both a physical and metal toll. “Marriage hearse” is a key example of an oxymoron in the poem, as it associates two contradictory terms together, that of marriage, and that of a hearse. This repetition of “In every” emphasises the continual, and never ceasing oppression and captivity of the lower class, by the aristocracy.

Approximate Word count = 1152
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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