Knowt
Religious Exploitation in Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience
Religious exploitation:
One of Blake’s key protests is the manipulation of religion by the institutions. He writes poems about how the church uses religion to manipulate and exploit, creating suffering and injustice among society. He argues that religion is pure, and beautiful, and by doing so they are betraying their own religious beliefs in creating such a negative world experience for everyone.
SOI: Holy Thursday
‘Twas on a Holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean
Washing away sin and impurity in cleaning the children’s faces
Biblical allusion to Jesus washing the disciples feet, the church washes the face instead, symbolic of making themselves look good, but not helping where they are actually needed.
SOI: The Shepard
He shall follow his sheep all day
critique of religious leaders who say they have a “flock”
Control how the individual accesses God, religion is formed and practiced based around control and authority, which Blake believes to be wrong.
SOI: The Chimney-Sweeper
And the angel told Tom if he’d be a good boy, He’d have God for his father, and never want joy.
religion is used to tamper with society’s expectations of fulfilment
Expected to suffer in life to be happy in death
SOE: Holy Thursday
Babe can never hunger there, Nor poverty the mind appal.
heaven imagery
Far from the “rich and fruitful land” of Britain. Although Britain could be better it chooses to ignore the poverty and problems, claiming to be holy but not actually.
SOE: London
Every black’ning Church appalls
church has failed the vulnerable
Blackened the children, the innocent (reference to chimney sweeper).
SOE: The Chimney-Sweeper
And are gone to praise God and his priest and king, Who make up a heaven of our misery.
religion is used to hide cor validate children’s suffering
People in power profit from suffering of the vulnerable
Criticises idea that suffering is virtue for the afterlife
SOE: A Little Girl Lost
But his loving look, Like the holy book, All her tender limbs with terror shook.
fearing of religion
Girl is fearful of religion, the holy father, after loosing her virginity. A social construct that religion is used to bring shame upon sexual acts/awakenings despite the naturalness of sex.
