William Blake: A World of Twisted Thoughts
             "What is it?" I ask myself. "Unsoundness or derangement of mind; madness; lunacy." is what dictionary dot com told me (definition 1). Can a writer be held accountable on any of these grounds? There is a fine line between being sane and insane in the world of writing. Many critics believe that there are no critical boundaries for coherent and incoherent writings (Frye). William Blake ran along that line from age 12, in 1769, until he passed away in 1827.
             He was a self-educated master painter, engraver, and poet. He dedicated his life to the arts and in 1772 when was married, his wife soon became a large part of his success. He believed in being resourceful, so in turn, manufactured his own ink, printing and illustrated his works, and his wife, Catherine Boucher, sewed the covers onto them.
             His writing career began at age 12 (Bibliomania 1). He began writing his first prose to help relieve his mental stresses. This stress haunted him since childhood. He had nightmares of imprisonment and images of people being locked away. Blake had a great mental fear, a thought of chains holding him down. These chains were mental, not physical. They were caused by the burdens of life and the decisions of society. This left him very unstable socially and was unable to communicate with society with ease. His fears were soon engraved into his soul. In 1780, Blake was caught in the path of a fuming mob and was forced to gates of Newgate jail. The rebels over took the gate and release hundreds of prisoners as Blake watched in amazement. Just after, he was arrested on the grounds of Treason and nearly faced imprisonment (Beer).
             The question remains if Blake's life and experiences reflected his work. "Blake's work has no defined structure, its only based on his life, and is a direct reflection," Northrop Frye responded to analysis of Blake&apo...