Experiment Results - The Strength Of An Electromagnet

Aim – To find out what affects the strength of an electromagnet.

Prediction – I think that the less coils of wire there are on the magnet there are the stronger the magnetic field will be.

Hypothesis – I think this will happen because if there is a large amount of coils not much magnetism will get through whereas is thee is less, more will get through.

Plan - What I am going to do is to find out the strength of an electromagnet. I will do this by wrapping coils of wire around a nail, attach the nail to a power pack using crocodile clips to see how many paperclips it picks up.

The equipment I will use is

Nail

Paperclips

Wire coils

Power Pack

Crocodile clips.

The experiment needs to be a fair test so the coils should be an equal distance apart and the height I pick the paperclips up from should also be kept at the same height.

Here is my step-by-step method.

1. Wrap coils equally around nail and connect to power pack.
2. Hold nail 5cm above the table and see how many paperclips it picks up
3. Add the next amount of coils.

Continue doing this until you have got up to a hundred coils then repeat steps 1, 2 and 3 again twice.

I am going to keep the distance in which I pick the paperclips up constant but vary the number of coils on the nail. I am going to add 10 coils each time until I reach 100.

Results table for the number of paperclips picked up

Number of coils	1st time	2nd time	3rd time	Average number of paperclips
10	1	2	2	2
20	3	3	3	3
30	4	3	2	3
40	6	4	4	5
50	4	3	2	3
60	5	5	5	5
70	5	6	2	4
80	5	4	5	5
90	6	5	4	6
100	7	5	3	6

Above is a results table showing my results, including the average score for each number of coils.

Conclusion

In our practical we found out that the more coils there are wrapped around the nail, the stronger the electromagnet is.

My results show that 10 – 30 coils around the nail wasn’t very powerful as it only picked up 1 – 4 paperclips but 50 – 100 coils was more powerful as it picked up 4 - 7 paperclips.

The line on my graph goes up and down, but stays straight at 20- 30 coils. The line got higher towards the end of the graph and the finished straight at 90 – 100 coils. My results don’t show any particular pattern but it does go up straight, then across straight then up and then down and then up and down again, then it goes straight up and across.

On the 2 points that is a high number of paperclips picked up, I think they are wrong. At them points I think there was just a slight power surge and on my graph I have circled those points. I think they should be lower down and on my graph I marked where I think they should really be in an x pink cross. In a yellow pen I drew what I think the line should have looked like. It still doesn’t have any particular pattern but goes in a straight line that goes up gradually at the end. My hypothesis was wrong, as was my prediction. I turned out that the more number of coils there are wrapped around the nail the stronger it as, therefore it picks up more paperclips.

Evaluation

I think me and my partner (Narissa Watkins) carried out the practical very well, we used the equipment as it was supposed to be used, there wasn’t any safety precautions needed and we got the best results obtained that we could.

The accuracy of my results is good, I used the equipment right and carefully. Most of my results are mostly the same, 10 – 40 coils picked up paperclips in the range of 6 – 1 and 50 – 100 picked up paperclips in the range of 2 – 7.

2 of the results I obtained were odd as they were much higher than the other results, these were circled on the graph and changed to what I though they should have been.

To improve my investigation I think I could have obtained more results e.g. adding 5 coils until I reach a hundred. Also if we were using different power packs we could have tried it out with different voltages.

William Blake - How Are Children Presented?

In William Blake’s poetry, children are presented
as innocent victims. Discuss with reference to both
“The Schoolboy” and “The Chimney-Sweeper”

In both ‘The Schoolboy’ and ‘The Chimney Sweeper’, by William Blake, children are presented as innocent victims. Blake does this effectively by using form, structure and language. The ‘Schoolboy’ tells us of a young boy who is forced to leave all the leisures and freedom of his life and to go to school, where he deals with much more serious and important issues rather than just child’s’ play, such as physical cruelty. The ‘Chimney Sweeper’ is about a boy who has lost his mother at a young age, and therefore is sold and made to work one of the most dangerous jobs at that time. Both poems represent an innocent victim as both poems are about children who have done no wrong in their lives, yet are forced to work and do things they do not want to.

This shows relevance to Blake’s life, as he did live in a time where school was hard work and cruel and children were made to work dangerous jobs, such as chimney sweeping, or in factories. He lived through the industrial revolution, where many factories were being built and cities expanding. An eighth of the work force was under thirteen years of age, and many children had to go to work in factories instead of getting an education. Blake did not believe in authority, and so perhaps by representing his children as innocent victims he is protesting against the injustice of the cruelty against them in his lifetime through his poetry.

There are many ways in which Blake’s children are presented as innocent victims in ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ (in songs of Innocence). In this poem, we hear of a boy who was sold by his father as a chimney sweeper when he was so young that he couldn’t even cry ‘sweep, sweep’, which was they traditional cry of the sweeps to advertise their presence. This immediately presents the child’s innocence, as if he were so young how could he have committed any evil when realising it. We then hear the boy comforting a fellow sweep named Tom Dacre, who had just had his blonde hair shaved off. Tom then goes to sleep and dreams that an angel sets free all the sweeps so they can run, play and swim freely in the innocence of youth. The angel tells Tom that if he is a 'good boy' God will love him and he will never 'want joy'. When Tom awakes, we learn that he is ‘happy and warm’, and we hear the moral of the poem, which is ‘If all do their duty they need fear not harm’. This is ironic, and once again presents the innocence of the sweeps, for being a chimney sweeper could result in horrific illnesses, such as lung or throat cancer or deformities, yet Tom is promised that he has nothing to fear. Naïve as he is, he believes this, and so wakes from his dream as ‘happy and warm’, convinced that he has nothing to fear. Yet the sweep is just repeating the moral code of the society at Blake’s time. This therefore reflects in the Victorian reader, saying that it is your fault that the sweep does what he has to, as it is your chimneys he sweeps. This again emphasises the point that Blake’s poetry could often be a protest against the aspects of everyday Victorian life he disagreed with.

The form and structure of the poem also present the children as innocent victims. It is a rhyming quatrain, and is in AABB form where the first and second lines rhyme and the third and fourth rhyme. It also has a structured rhythm throughout the poem. It has lyrical qualities making it sound like a nursery rhyme, which are often told to innocent children. Tom Dacre’s dream shows just how horrible the life of a sweep was, as it compares it to what they should have been doing at their age, which was ‘ Leaping, laughing they run, and wash in a river and shine in the sun’. By comparing this life to that of a sweeps, Blake once again shows that the sweeps are innocent victims. They should be leading a life of innocence, full of fun and games, yet even thought they have done nothing wrong they are still forced to live a life of misery.

The language Blake uses throughout the poem also reflects in an innocent victim. When he compares Tom’s hair to a lamb, ‘ (Tom) Cried when his head, that curled like a lamb’s back’, he is using this simile to show that the children are pure, as white is the colour of purity and lambs have white, curly fur. When the poem says ‘For when your head is bare, you know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair’, Blake is using this as a metaphor to show that if the sweeps accept the life they are given, then it will not spoil their innocence and purity. This basically means that if they put their happy, innocent lives behind them, then it cannot be spoiled, as in their minds it will no longer exist. Blake also uses his language to present innocence. When he uses phrases like ‘naked and white’, this means that they are pure, and also has reference to the bible. Adam and Eve were naked when they lived in the paradise of The Garden of Eden, yet when they ate the forbidden fruit, they realised they were naked and were no longer pure or innocent. This reflects in the poem, as it states that if the children had lived an innocent life, as they should be at their age, they would have been naked, and pure, just as Adam and Eve were. Blake also refers to religion when he says that ‘ the angel told Tom that if he’d been a good boy, He’d have God for his father, and never want joy’. This means that if Tom was good and did not sin in his life, then he would go to heaven and have God as his father. This also presents the children as innocent, as a common belief amongst young children is the deceptively simple fact that ‘If you are good, then you go to heaven. If you are bad, then you go to hell.’ Yet Blake did not agree with Christianity. His faith was of the Swedenborgian New Church. He believed that the truth was learned by personal revelation, not by teaching. What he called his 'visions' were perhaps hallucinations, experiences that he allowed to guide his life. It was these that gave him such a strong and uncompromising belief in his own artistic direction, but also led others to call him eccentric or even mad. This means that in his poem, he is suggesting that even thought the angel has promised to set the sweeps free and that they will be children of God, the sweeps still suffer a great deal and so he is suggesting that Christianity is wrong.
Blake did not believe in authority, and often wrote works critiscing religion and poilitics, such as his books, ‘The French Revolution’ (1791), ‘America: A Prophecy’ (1793) and ‘Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793)’. Blake developed his attitude of revolt against authority, combining political belief and visionary ecstasy. Blake feared government persecution and some of work such as The French Revolution was printed anonymously and was only distributed to political sympathisers. This reflects in the poems ‘The Schoolboy’ and the ‘Chimney Sweep’, as he is protesting against the cruelty to children in his time. Both children in the poems are being oppressed on different levels, one being sent to a school which he compares to a cage, (‘How can a child…sit in a cage and sing?’), whereas the other is forced to work a very dangerous job. Both children share the fact that they are forced to do what they don’t want, and Blake suggests that due to the politics and religion of Victorian times, they must carry it out.

The ‘Schoolboy’ is the story of a boy who enjoys an innocent life, ‘I love to rise in a summer morn, when the birds sing on every tree’ in the first stanza, yet in the next five he tells us of his frustrating experience of attending school in the summer days, where he is kept under the watch of a cruel teacher ‘Under a cruel eye outworn’ and finds himself bored ‘At times I drooping sit’. The poem consists of six stanzas, where there is a rhyming couplet if four lines, and an additional fifth line which rhymes with the fourth in every stanza. This makes the poem sound as though it is a song, which is what a child of the boy’s age would take great pleasure in, especially seeing as the boy refers to songs in his poem, and the fact he is not able to sing at school, ‘ How can a bird…sit in a cage and sing?’ The fifth line on each stanza keeps the poem moving on, and leads into the next stanza. It repeats the rhyme of the fourth line, which creates the effect of a school day, as it seems to make the poem trudge on and on.

The first stanza describes an innocent life the boy has been living, and immediately shows us that he takes joy in singing, and summer and playing about. This presents innocence, as the boy follows what most innocent children did in that day, not knowing any evil or right from wrong. Blake uses language to present the innocence here, such as ‘sweet company,’ describing the boys feelings towards the summer life around him. Blake also uses the first stanza to create a sort of utopia, when the boy rises to the singing of the birds, and the huntsman’s horn, and he can sing with a skylark with not a care in the world. Yet this feeling of paradise is taken away in the second stanza, ‘It drives all joy away’, as we learn that the boy has to attend school where the birds no longer sing and the atmosphere is no longer pure or innocent. He also describes the boys reaction to school, setting the scene that he feels he is supervised by a cruel teacher, and the ‘small ones spend the day in sighing and dismay’. When, in the first line Blake uses the word ‘but’, this shows that the stanza is going to be a contradiction of the first, meaning that the innocent rapture he set up in the first stanza is being replaced by the school which once again presents the innocence of the child. School was a very cruel place in Blake’s time, where corporal punishment and cruelty were often adopted.

In the third stanza we again hear the attitude the boy has towards his school, that he finds it boring: ‘Then at times I drooping sit, and spend many an anxious hour; nor in my book can I take delight’. He also makes reference to the weather and seasons throughout his poem, such as ‘Worn through the dreary shower’, which represents a pathetic fallacy, where the boys mood matches the weather. It starts in summer, (‘I love to rise in a summer morn’) when the boy is happy, and the quality of the weather gradually depreciates as the poem continues, going though autumn (‘buds are nipped, and blossoms blown away’) and ends up in winter (‘ When the blasts of winter appear’) which shows that the boy feels that school has taken the innocence and purity of his life and spoiled it, comparing his life to a cold winter with nothing to look forward to (‘how shall the summer fruits arise in joy’). This again presents the fact that he is an innocent victim, as his pure life is now ruined by something beyond his control.

In the fourth stanza, Blake compares the boy to a bird, saying how he will not be able to enjoy the leisures of his life, even though he is ‘born for joy’. This is presented in the language Blake uses, such as ‘droop his tender wing’, or ‘sit in a cage and sing’. Throughout the poem, Blake constantly refers to the fact that a boy who was once innocent and pure has now come to school and feels as though his life has turned into an eternal winter, full of cold and cruelty, and no light to shine on the beautiful aspects of life.

Blake was considered as a Romantic, and the Romantic movement was essentially a reaction to the 18^th century and its unjust society. This is also reflected in Blake’s poem, London, which focuses on the lack of freedom, and the difficulties the urban poor have to deal with. He creates the sense that everyone is ‘in chains’ and a great deal of suffering is present. Human potential is still-born due to exploitation and appalling social inequality. Children are made to work up the chimneys, or the poem even suggests as prostitutes, while the aristocracy maintain their position while many ‘hapless soldiers’ are dying on their behalf.

In both poems, the ‘Chimney-Sweeper’ and ‘The Schoolboy’, Blake has presented his children as innocent victims who have had their pure, innocent lives spoiled by the oppression of Victorian society which they have each had to deal with in their lives. Both poems represent Blake’s general attitude towards the Victorian society; he believed that it was a corrupting influence, and this is shown as both the work and school of the children has corrupted them, changing them from naïve, pure young children, into experienced youths whose ideals of life have been altered. At the end of the poem, the Schoolboy has now realised that there is no light in the fact he has to go to school, and in the ‘Chimney-Sweeper’ in Songs of Experience, the chimney sweeper, even though he is innocent, has grown to accept that this was his fate, and always would be in a world where he would serve a corrupt, Victorian society.

Romeo & Juliet - The Balcony Scene (Extended)

How Does Shakespeare present idyllic
teenage love in the Balcony Scene?

I was told to rewrite this one with more detail so here goes:

Romeo and Juliet is a play about teenage love that breaks through the conflict of two families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Act II scene 2 - or the balcony scene - one of the best-known scenes in all of Shakespeare, symbolises many of the broader themes of this play. The scene is set at the Capulets’ mansion, where Romeo has climbed over the orchard wall (despite the fact if the guards find him they will kill him) into the estate, where he finds himself underneath Juliet’s balcony. The balcony scene is an important part of the story. It tells us more about the characters and their personalities, and what they are willing to do for each other. Before this scene, we have seen the party, where Romeo and Juliet first meet and supposedly fall in love. This is an example of Shakespeare’s portrayal of idyllic love; they have only just met and already Romeo is putting his life at risk just to see his ‘love’. At the end of the scene, Romeo goes to see a friend of his, Friar Lawrence about getting married to Juliet. We know from the prelude that both Romeo and Juliet are going to die, so we can understand that this is a cause to their deaths and that Romeo is unwittingly compounding the problem.

Scene 2 comes immediately after a particularly short episode with Mercutio and after all the action of the party. Romeo on stage alone would have a powerful theatrical effect on the audience. It opens with Romeo’s soliloquy, which is littered with exaggerated diction. The soliloquy is a dramatic tool used so that characters can share their feelings with the audience and here Romeo expresses the extent to which Juliet has affected him. His extravagant phrases compare Juliet to the sun radiating ‘a stream so bright/ That birds would sing and think it were not night’. This rhyming couplet is a fairly banal cliché and the epic imagery – the frequent reference to stars and heaven – are an exaggeration of the girl he has met only once. This imagery also tells us of the distance he feels between her because of the social status that separates them; their families are in a bitter war. This soliloquy also gives us an insight into Romeo’s character. We can see here that he is somewhat immature, and despite having sworn his love for Rosaline at the beginning of the play, after meeting a girl once at a party he has already got over this and is after the next woman – he is a fickle adolescent. There is also little difference between the love he describes here and the love he expressed for Rosaline. This presents teenage love and gives us the impression that even though Romeo swears his love for Juliet, it still may only be a phase, which he may get over that very weekend. But then Romeo- upon seeing Juliet for the first time in this scene- expresses his genuine feelings for her: ‘It is my lady, O it is my love: O that she knew she were!’ The second line of this couplet is particularly important. As it is only three poetic ‘feet’ as opposed to the accustomed five, we get the impression that Romeo cannot find words to describe his emotions. The use of the balcony is significant in this scene as well. It shows that Romeo is looking up to Juliet, and she is above him not only in social status, but also in maturity.

Before Romeo reveals himself to Juliet, we hear her talking about Romeo and describing the frustration she feels that they may never be able to be lovers and will always be separated by their families’ quarrel, ‘tis but thy name that is my enemy’. This shows that she is only imagining what could have been and is considering the consequences and obstacles of their love, whereas Romeo does not dwell on these and without any hesitation he is risking his life for Juliet. This compares their characters and shows us that although Juliet is only fourteen and about three years Romeo’s younger, she is still thinking ahead about the long term-effects their love can instigate. She is taking into account the families’ argument, and the punishments issued by the Prince that states any agitator of violence can be sentenced to death; a punishment she would surely not want to be given to any of her family or her love. She also sees her boundaries, and recognises that her and Romeo are at different ends of the spectrum; two ends that are never meant to meet and only the most severe consequences will emerge if they do. This is why she refers to Romeo’s heritage, and she questions why he is a Montague, ‘Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo.’ She does not mention the name Montague, however, which can show that maybe she is so frustrated about it that she does not want to remind herself of his name, and so she can just think about her Romeo, the romantic boy that is not like her family’s enemy. She then goes on to say how she would be willing to change her name, if he would only swear his love for her. Romeo responds to this by saying ‘ Call me but love… and I’ll never be Romeo’ This is a sort of exaggeration, and once again presents idyllic love as we still do not know how genuine the love these two teenagers feel for each other is, and Romeo could just be using this phrase as a key to Juliet’s heart. This gives us the impression of teenage love as they may be swearing to betray their families now, but really they are only exaggerating and we know from the end that they never will do this and were only using these commitments to try and express their feelings for each other.

Juliet then goes on to ask Romeo how he managed to climb over the high orchard-wall. In response to this, Romeo claims that ‘with love’s light wings did I o’erperch these walls’. This means that love gave him wings so that he could fly over the wall to meet Juliet and be with her. This is again an exaggeration, and a fairly obvious romantic gesture to Juliet, but perhaps Romeo is trying his best to appear to her as a sweet, sensitive romantic boy. Juliet then replies by saying ‘If they do see thee, they will murder thee’, which shows that Romeo’s idealism contrasts with Juliet’s realism, and tells us that she is considering the consequences and danger of Romeo’s presence, whereas he is blinded by his idyllic love for her. This again represents the distinction of their personalities; Juliet is a mature, considerate and prudent young girl and Romeo is a love- struck, indecisive, teenage adolescent who has no worries except for the job at hand- winning Juliet’s heart. This again relates to the setting of the scene, and emphasizes the fact that Juliet is above Romeo in maturity as well as social stature. Juliet then goes on to ask ‘By whose direction found’st thou out this place?’, which shows again she has ignored Romeo’s romantic responses to her practical questions and wants to know more about the mysterious character that is in her garden and how he came to be here. Romeo –who is still trying his best to satisfy Juliet romantically- answers ‘by love, that first did prompt me to enquire’. Romeo expresses love as a person, as if love is a wise man whom he consulted and whose one purpose is to bring Romeo to his love, Juliet. He also says ‘As that vast shore wash’d with the farthest sea, I should adventure for such merchandise’, which means that he would do whatever ‘Love’ would tell him to do, and he also uses the cliché that he would go anywhere for Juliet. This again presents us with idyllic, teenage love.

 As the scene progresses, Juliet feels that she is playing along too easily to Romeo’s advances- as she expresses in her speech ll. 85-106. Juliet recognizes the fickle nature of teenage love, ‘yet if thou swear’st, / Thou mayst prove false.’ Her reference to a classical god introduces an element of fate. Romeo’s taste is at the whim of the laughing ‘Jove.’ Consequently she decides she should not be ‘too quickly won.’ It would appear she is impressed but not convinced by Romeo’s charm and needs some confirmation; she dispenses the conventional courting ritual, asking bluntly, ‘Dost thou love me?’ Juliet is concerned that Romeo may think that she has been ‘too quickly won.’ Juliet makes it clear that she is so fond of Romeo that she feels no need for false pretension or to be more like ‘those that have more coying to be strange.’ It is not a case of Juliet ‘yielding to light love’ but rather that Romeo is indeed her ‘true-love.’

Romeo wants to immediately respond to Juliet’s assertion by swearing his love for her. However, when he goes to say ‘Lady, by yonder the blessed moon I vow’ (and swear his love by the moon), Juliet interrupts his attempt to assure her of his love, and says ‘O swear not by the moon, th’inconsistant moon… Lest that thy love prove likewise variable’, which is saying if Romeo were to swear his love by the moon, it might prove to be inconsistent and change. In this phrase, she disregards everything Romeo wants to vow, and shows that she may doubt ever having any relation to this mysterious character underneath her balcony. This is backed up in the next few lines, where Juliet seems to become incoherent to all Romeo has to say. She interrupts and contradicts his love for her and the fact he wants to swear his love by something that would be of significance. We then see that Romeo is willing to do what Juliet tells him to when she tells him ‘Swear by thy gracious self, which is the god of my idolatry’, he replies to her, ‘If my hearts dear love-‘ and then Juliet interrupts him again. This gives us the impression that she does not expect him to succumb to this request, and so when he does, she does not want to hear it. At this point in the text, it seems that Juliet does not trust Romeo and even thought he was sworn his love and done everything she has requested, she feels he is only saying this so he can be with her. In her next speech she expresses her feelings frankly, and informs Romeo that ‘Although I joy in thee, I have no joy in this contract tonight’ and she also expresses how she feels it is too ‘rash/too unadvis’d’, which is saying that they are moving too fast, and although Romeo may be sensitive and romantic, Juliet is essentially saying ‘maybe we should get to know each other better’- a phrase only known too well in the teenage world of love.

As Juliet then decides to leave and says that ‘This bud of love… may prove a beauteous flower when we next meet’, Romeo as a last resort appeals ‘O wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?’ This phrase of desperation has a double meaning, and the one Juliet perceives is not the meaning Romeo was hoping to articulate. Juliet believes that all Romeo wanted, after a night of romantic gestures and clichés, was to engage in a sexual relationship. She inquires ‘What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?’ to confirm her suspicions. Romeo, who would have to verify all he has claimed that night, answers ‘Th’exchange thy love’s faithful vow for mine’. According to her next speech-‘My love as deep; the more I give it to me’ –shows that Juliet has finally yielded to Romeo’s charm and enticing lines, and Romeo will not be leaving so ‘unsatisfied’ after all. When Juliet is requested inside by the nurse, we see another soliloquy by Romeo in which he expresses his emotions, ‘I am afeard, being in night, all this is but a dream too flattering-sweet to be substantial’- he is saying the fact that the contract of love is two way, is too good to be true; it is like a dream. In this speech we are assured that Romeo is true to what he says, and was not just using exaggerated clichés to get into Juliet’s bed. When Juliet returns to the balcony, the two lovers discuss marriage, and there is a sense of idealism in this suggestion; they have only just met and they are about to get married. Marriage is an important bonding of two people, and the person you want to marry has to be perfect for you. The fact that these two teenagers have just encountered each other for the first time a few hours prior to the balcony scene suggests that already they can tell they are perfect for each other, which would be ideal in our world. However, this also suggests an aspect of teenage love; they may still be moving too fast and might not be perfect for each other. The fact their families are bitter enemies does not help their case. We also know from the end of the play (or the prologue) that they will not have much time to find out if it would work. Nonetheless, they agree on this engagement, and arrange to meet at nine the next day where they can marry and (so they think) live happily ever after. At this point of the dialogue, Juliet seems to have lost her distinctive, mature character and is lead along blindly with what Romeo wants. Maybe this is what Romeo brings out in her, which can be reflected in many couples, teenage or otherwise. They then engage in a childish, flirtatious game, in which they quarrel in a petty, soft manner: ‘I shall forget, to have thee still stand there’ to which Romeo replies: ‘And I’ll still stay, to have thee still forget.’ In the end, Juliet lets her instincts get the better of her, and returning to her old mature temperament, she steals back into her room, and leaves Romeo by himself to end one of the most important and well-known scenes in Romeo and Juliet.

Act II Scene 2, the balcony scene is the most significant encounter between the two lovers in the play. We learn more about both of their characters, how Juliet is mature, sensitive yet somewhat stubborn teenage girl, and how Romeo is a fickle, indecisive adolescent who, in this scene, has reveals his inner emotions for Juliet. This contrast in character is represented by the centerpiece of the scene- the balcony. This image can be depicted by the balcony set on the Elizabethan stage, and Shakespeare must have written this scene with that idea in his mind, as to portray the basic idea of this scene. Shakespeare has presented the teenage love in this scene extremely accurately, and the nature of teenage love must have been the same in the Elizabethan times as it is today, as I can relate to this encounter entirely. The boy is obviously out to impress and flatter the girl, as she will perceive him as a sensitive loving person. This is what Romeo attempts- successfully- throughout the scene, and this method of pursuing the girls is still present today, except of course not in Elizabethan language! Shakespeare also portrays the frustration and rewards of teenage love exceptionally well. We can see from the beginning Romeo tries in vain to flatter Juliet with his romantic clichés, at first she does not succumb to his charm. Eventually, after many a trial, Romeo breaks through and manages to persuade Juliet that he is not the sleazy teenager she thought he was. This again portrays an aspect of teenage love; first impressions are not everything, and may come to change. Overall, we can see that teenage love is not always idyllic in the sense that in the long run not everything goes to plan. It is also hard to accept that these teenagers fall in love at first sight, and having barely spoken a word to each other, Romeo is climbing over walls and risking his life for Juliet. On the other hand, this may be an exceptional case, and without this element Romeo and Juliet might never have been the play it is. But teenage love is not always like this, and more often than not does not turn out the way it is expected. This is portrayed by Shakespeare, as neither of the lovers would have thought they would be killing themselves for each other when their relationship began. One might see that Romeo and Juliet is just a portrayal of idyllic teenage love on a much larger scale. There is no question, however, that this encounter between Romeo and Juliet is idyllic, and it is this teenage love entrapped in the war between two families that has provided one of the most renowned pieces of literature in the world.

Romeo & Juliet - The Balcony Scene

How Does Shakespeare present idyllic
teenage love in the Balcony Scene?

Romeo and Juliet is a play about teenage love that breaks through the conflict of two families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Act II scene 2 - or the balcony scene - one of the best-known scenes in all of Shakespeare, symbolises many of the broader themes of this play. The scene is set at the Capulets’ mansion, where Romeo has climbed over the orchard wall (despite the fact if the guards find him they will kill him) into the estate, where he finds himself underneath Juliet’s balcony. The balcony scene is an important part of the story. It tells us more about the characters and their personalities, and what they are willing to do for each other. Before this scene, we have seen the party, where Romeo and Juliet first met and supposedly fall in love. This is an example of Shakespeare’s portrayal of idyllic love; they have only just met and already Romeo is putting his life at risk just to see his ‘love’. At the end of the scene, Romeo goes to see a friend of his, Friar Lawrence about getting married to Juliet. As we know from the prelude that both Romeo and Juliet are going to die, so we can understand that this is a cause to their deaths and that Romeo is unwittingly compounding the problem.

Scene 2 comes immediately after a particularly short episode with the cynic, Mercutio and after all the action of the party, Romeo on stage alone would have a powerful theatrical effect on the audience who would now be especially attentive. It opens with Romeo’s soliloquy, which is littered with exaggerated speech. The soliloquy is a dramatic tool used so that characters can share their feelings with the audience and here Romeo expresses the extent to which Juliet has affected him. His extravagant phrases compare Juliet to the sun radiating ‘a stream so bright/ That birds would sing and think it were not night’. This rhyming couplet is a fairly banal cliché and the epic imagery – the frequent reference to stars and heaven – are an exaggeration of the girl he has met but once. This imagery also tells us of the distance he feels between her because of the social status that separates them; their families are at bitter war. This soliloquy also gives us an insight into Romeo’s character. We can see here that he is somewhat immature, and despite having sworn his love for Rosaline at the beginning of the play, after meeting a girl once at a party he has already got over this and is after the next woman. This presents teenage love and gives us the impression that even though Romeo swears his love for Juliet, it still may only be a phase, which he may get over that very weekend. The use of the balcony is significant here as well. It shows that Romeo is looking up to Juliet, and she is above him not only in social status, but also in maturity.

Before Romeo reveals himself to Juliet, we hear her talking about Romeo and describing the frustration she feels that they may never be able to be lovers and will always be separated by their families quarrel. This shows that she is only imagining what could have been and is considering the consequences and obstacles of their love, whereas Romeo does not dwell on these and without any hesitation he is risking his life for this girl. This compares their characters and shows us that although Juliet is only fourteen and three years Romeo’s younger, she is still thinking ahead about the long term-effects their love can instigate. She is taking into account the families argument, and the punishments issued by the Prince that states any agitator of violence can be sentenced to death; a punishment she would surely not want to be given to any of her family or her love. She also sees her boundaries, and recognises that her and Romeo are at different ends of the spectrum; two ends that are never meant to meet and only the most severe consequences will emerge if they do. This is why she refers to Romeo’s heritage, and she questions why he is a Montague. She does not mention the name Montague, however, which can show that maybe she is so frustrated about it that she does not want to remind herself of his name, and so she can just think about her Romeo, the romantic boy that is not like her families enemy. She then goes on to say how she would be willing to change her name, if he would only swear his love for her.

An Inspector Calls - The Impact Of His Visit On Sheila

When the Inspector calls at the Birling household, all the family are affected by the revelations that were brought to light- especially the daughter Sheila. As a dutiful daughter, Sheila pays attention to everything that her parents say and accepts it quite happily. Due to her comfortable upbringing, Sheila is unfortunately rather spoilt and appears at some points in the play to be very superficial. This side of her personality is revealed to both her parents and the audience when the Inspector gradually manages to persuade her to confess her involvement with Eva Smith. Soon after these confessions, a dramatic change is seen in Sheila’s personality, she now seems a lot more sensitive and caring towards the situation and it seems that she has matured as she is brutally honest with the other characters and voices her opinions. When the audience learns of Mr and Mrs Birling’s connections with Eva Smith, Sheila finally finds the courage, for the first time in the play, to disagree with them and display her utter disappointment and disgust with their actions. This rapid change in character is all due to the Inspector’s visit and it seems to have a lasting impact on Sheila as even when he leaves, she agrees never to return to her former self.

Priestley chooses to convey Sheila’s character to the audience at the start of the play using many different linguistic features and dramatic devices, and this works extremely effectively. Sheila’s first words display her superficial nature because she says “I’d hate you to know all about port- like one of those purple-faced old men” when they are commenting upon the port which they are drinking with their meal. The descriptive and often innocently harsh language that she uses emphasises the fact that her upbringing has caused her to be easily judgemental. This shows the stereotypical upbringing and expectations of an over protected and under educated middle class girl at this time. When Sheila says that Eric is “squiffy”, she simply means he is drunk but at the time in which the play was written using this word to describe being drunk was a very young term that would have been used among her friends. This use of language displays her impressionable nature and makes the audience understand the expectations of women at the time because Mrs Birling then says ‘What an expression, Sheila!’ She seems almost shocked to hear her using such informal words at the dinner table because at this time the subjects of drink and sex were considered absolutely taboo to even consider. Priestly conveys the way in which Sheila is treated like a young girl, and to some extent shielded from reality, by Mr and Mrs Birling when Sheila says things like “I’m sorry, Daddy…I was listening” and is described to be ‘looking attentively’ at him. Mr Birling is then described to ‘hold for a moment before continuing’. These actions show the way in which women at the time, especially daughters like Sheila, were expected to listen to the men in the family. It also clearly displays the authority Mr and Mrs Birling had over Sheila and the way in which Sheila listens to their every word and respects their wishes. This is finally reinforced to the audience when the Inspector calls on the Birling household, because Sheila doesn’t speak for a while instead she stays quiet and lets Mr Birling deal with the situation.

When the Inspector arrives and has his first few words with Mr Birling, a change is seen in Sheilas character. She seems rather more persistent and curious about the situation and has courage to ask her father and the Inspector “What’s this all about?”. She then continues to ask further questions such as; “What business?” and “What’s happening?”. This conveys to the audience that perhaps Sheila is a more sensitive person than originally perceived because she hasn’t before had the courage to say anything to her parents. But now, when she is informed that the Inspector is enquiring about the death of a young girl called Eva Smith, she seems very concerned and wants to know more. Sheila is described to look very shocked and when Gerald tells her not to look like that, then she says “Sorry! Its just that I cant help thinking about this girl- destroying herself so horribly- and I’ve been so happy tonight. Oh I wish you hadn’t told me”. This then informs the audience that even though she could possibly have been a little worried, she is at this stage still quite self-absorbed but this changes quite quickly. When Sheila hears of how Eva Smith was once working at her father’s factory yet was fired due to a strike she held about low wages, her reaction is to say “But these girls aren’t cheap labour- they’re people.” Priestly chooses to use this language as Sheila’s comment because it conveys the fact that she is now becoming more and more confident and finds the courage not only to question her father, but also to disagree with him now. It makes the audience realise that perhaps she does have feelings and emotions, but points out that maybe before she was so dominated by her parents that she was unable to express herself genuinely.

Later in the play, the Inspector starts to ask Sheila about her involvement with Eva Smith and this is when her character change is displayed a lot more vividly in her actions and use of language. When she hears that Eva was then employed at Milwards, her reaction is to mention that they shop there and say “She was lucky to get taken on at Milwards!”. The way in which she immediately relates the situation to herself, along with her use of language here conveys to the reader that although her personality is starting to change, she still remains quite arrogant- perhaps this may be because she is still largely dominated by her parents at this stage. When Sheila finds out that Eva was sacked from Milwards because a customer had complained, she is described as looking very agitated and this suggests to the audience that perhaps Sheila was the customer that complained. Sheila then asks what she looks like to be sure and the Inspector shows her a photograph and she is said to let out ‘a little cry, give a half-stifled sob, and then run out’. This emotional language then makes the audience realise that she obviously recognised the girl and knew that she was the girl she had had fired. The fact that she is described to give a ‘half-stifled cry’ perhaps describes the way in which she didn’t want to cry and let the family know that she had been involved with Eva but she was so overcome with emotion that she couldn’t help herself. This may reflect the way in which women were expected to uphold a respectable image in the time the play is set.

The point when Sheila returns and reflects upon her actions and displays her feelings, is when the audience is made to notice the dramatic impact that the situation has had upon her personality. When the Inspector asks Sheila if she used her power as a upper-class girl to punish Eva for laughing at Sheila in a dress at Milwards, she says “Yes, but it didn’t seem anything terrible at the time…and if I could help her now, I would.” This acts as distinct proof in her change of character as it explains that at the time she didn’t see anything wrong with complaining but now she understand that what she did was wrong and she is deeply and truly sorry, for probably one of the first times in her life. Priestly chooses for Sheila to use repetition in order to convey the fact that she is extremely worried about the situation. For example; the Inspector has already informed Sheila that she was partly to blame for the death of Eva Smith because her actions led to a longer chain of events that all became too much for her, when she asks “So I’m really responsible?”. This indicates clearly to the audience that she is very sorry and can’t believe that she had acted so thoughtlessly.

Truths about Gerald’s past with Eva are then revealed and it becomes clear to the reader that the Inspectors visit has had an enormously positive effect on Sheila. When Gerald admits to what he knows about Eva, she shows her gratitude and respect for him even though she is upset and hurt by what he says. This not only shows her new maturity but gives the reader hope that after the Inspector has left and all the families issues have been dealt with, perhaps Gerald and Sheila will be able to resume their relationship on new terms. Because at this point it seems as if Sheila has almost broken free from the Edwardian stereotype of women and the fact that they were considered children until they were married.

After this, she is sure in the knowledge that however hard the family tries to hide things from the Inspector it definitely will not work. So, when the Inspector starts to question Mrs Birling about the incident, Sheila has already become an awful lot more confident and is almost siding with the Inspector as she knows her mother has something to hide. This is reflected in her language greatly when she says persuasively “Go on mother. You might as well admit it!” and “We’ve no excuse for putting on airs and if we’ve any sense we won’t try.” Priestly conveys the great confidence that Sheila has gained during the Inspector’s visit and the mature, sensitive and honest attitude that she now has.

After each character has admitted to their guilty involvements with Eva Smith, the Inspector exits and the family are left to discuss what has just happened and each character has their own attitude towards it. The family come to the conclusion that the Inspector may not have been real and Sheila firstly reacts by saying “Don’t you see, if all that’s come out tonight is true, then it doesn’t much matter who it was who made us confess. And it was true, wasn’t it?…That’s what’s important- and not whether a man is a police Inspector or not.” This allows the audience to see, from the language that she uses, that Sheila hasn’t reverted back to her old personality like the other characters (except Eric), but is still just as confident and honest as she was towards the end of the Inspector’s visit. The other characters seem to think that because the Inspector may not have been real then they are off the hook and can completely forget about the revelations that came to light- Sheila is very different to this as she knows that even though he may not have been real, she can’t forget what happened. The Inspector’s visit has permanently changed her. The language which she uses becomes extremely emotive and aggressive at some points, as she becomes frustrated with the fact that the family think they can now just forget that anything ever happened. For example; “I tell you- whoever that Inspector was, it was anything but a joke. You knew it then. You began to learn something. And now you’ve stopped. You’re ready to go on the same old way!” As you can see, Priestly has given Sheila short snappy sentences and this conveys her sheer disappointment and annoyance with them. In this extract she is also trying to make them remember how they felt when they thought that they were responsible, and is hoping that they will understand that it cannot be forgotten.

In conclusion, throughout the play Sheila’s character develops and changes gradually from a dutiful, spoilt daughter to a caring, mature, respectable young woman and these changes are all due to the Inspectors visit and the impact it has on Sheila. The changes are also made evident by the writer J.B. Priestly by way of linguistic devices and structural effects. The nature of the Inspector was very unprofessional and straightforward, which may have been reason as to why the changes in her personality occurred-perhaps because for the first time, she felt able to express her opinions and beliefs. At the end of the play, the audience are left wondering about whether Sheila had always had this personality but because of the expectations of women at the time and the controlling nature of her parents, never had the chance to reveal it until the Inspector’s visit. If this is true, was the Inspector’s visit simply due to the characters’ guilty conscience or an act of God?

Romeo & Juliet - The Tragedy Predicted

Act 2 scene 6 and Act 3 scene 1 are the turning point of the tragedy. After Act 2 scene 6 it seems as if everything might still to work out for Romeo and Juliet. They are passionately in love with each other. The odd thing is that friar Lawrence thinks this to start with and he changes his mind because he thinks that maybe the marriage of these two children will put an end to the family’s feuds. When it comes to the wedding the Friar really wants it to work, “So smile the heavens upon this holy act…” he is blessing the marriage but it is not part of the ceremony. However he still thinks that the marriage is too quick and that they are too young “These violent delights have violent ends,” he feels that the ferociousness of their love will die out very quickly and that they will get sick of each other, “The sweetest of honey is loathsome in his own deliciousness,”. He says it is better for them to love each other enough but not too much because he thinks it will last longer if they do not devour each other, “Therefore love moderately, long love doth so, too swift arrives, as tardy as too slow.” Romeo and Juliet speak very spiritually and holy, they are playing with words and everything seems to be great for them. They are both head over heels for each other they cant stop telling each other how much they love them, “But my true love has grown to such excess, I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth.”

Act 3 scene 1, “ I pray thee good Mercutio let’s retire, the day is hot, the Capulets abroad…” Shakespeare has to tell the audience what the scenery is because in those days when the play would have been performed they had no scenery on the stage so Shakespeare had to tell the audience to imagine what the scene would be like what time of day or night it is, or where they are like on a balcony or in the woods. This scene is the turning point of the play. Romeo gets kicked out of Verona because of his fight with Tybalt. Before this scene it seems somehow things might turn out alright for Romeo and Juliet but after this scene there doesn’t look like there’s any hope for them. Shakespeare presents the feeling of hate at the front of this scene. Mercutio and Tybalt break into a fight because Tybalt is looking for Romeo, he is appalled that Romeo came to their party without being invited. He cannot find Romeo so he starts on Mercutio. Just before a fight breaks out Romeo comes onto the scene and Tybalt wants to fight but Romeo just keeps saying I love you even though you think I have no reason to. Tybalt gets annoyed with Romeo but Mercutio steps in and Tybalt and Mercutio get into a fight. The fight last quite a long time they keep having digs at each other, chanting at each other. Eventually Tybalt stabs Mercutio and Mercutio dies. Romeo is rather annoyed because he should have been the one to fight Tybalt but he didn’t because of Juliet he didn’t want to fight a member of his own family. He is so annoyed he pursues Tybalt and then has a fight to the death with him. He slays Tybalt. The prince comes and asks what has happened and of course Romeo slayed Tybalt. Romeo gets banished. Before now it seemed that everything could work out fine but now there is a dark cloud of fear above it that will not go away. Everything seems to be going in the wrong direction. Romeo has been banished. On top of that Juliet’s father has told her she is to be married to Paris which she doesn’t want to do. She can’t even tell her parents she can’t because she is afraid to tell them she is married to Romeo. 

Although Mercutio is dying he is still playing around with words “they have made worms’ meat of me”. His death is ironic because he is not a member of either the Capulets or the Montegues. O sweet Juliet, thy beauty hath made me effeminate, and in my temper soften’d valour’s steel.” He is annoyed with himself for not wanting to fight Tybalt because of Juliet.

These two scenes of the tragedy are the turning point of the play they are hugely significant. Before these two scenes it looks as if Romeo and Juliet might be able to live a happy life but after them it seems all is lost.

William Blake - Attitude Towards The Society He Lived In

In this essay I will be looking at pre 1914 poetry written by William Blake. I am going to discuss how Blake conveys his attitudes towards the society that he lived in. The 4 main poems that I am going to study in detail are, ‘The Ecchoing Green’, ‘The Garden of Love’, ‘London’, and finally ‘The Human Abstract’. These 4 poems can be linked to the other poems that I will be mentioning; in the way that Blake presents us with the images of where he used to live.

‘The Ecchoing Green’ conveys Blake’s idea of an idealised society. He does this through exploring the themes of nature, community, relationships (between adult and child,) and the states of innocence and experience. In the poem there are two generations of people speaking, adults and children. The children tell of their freedom and happiness, whilst the adults tell us of the darker more sinister things that go in society. The poem begins with the beginning of the day, ‘the sun does arise,’ which also gives the poem a positive tone, ‘the merry the bells ring.’ He also uses the phrase, ‘the birds of the bush,’ because it gives you a picture of nature and a sense of freedom which suggests a carefree society. In the first stanza Blake uses the human sense of sound to get across the cheerfulness on ‘the Ecchoing Green.’ For example,’ sing louder around.’ Also stanza 1 symbolises the beginning of spring which can be associated with nature and joy. The end of the stanza,’ while our sports shall be seen on the Ecchoing Green,’ suggests that you should make the most of what you have as it may not last. Here Blake is trying to get across his idea that in society everything may not be as it seems and you should enjoy it while it lasts.

In stanza 2 there is a change in the tone of the poem, it presents you with Old John who is watching the children, whilst he sits under the old oak. The oak tree suggests wisdom and experience as the oak is the tree of knowledge. The second line,’ does laugh away care,’ shows that he has probably seen it all before. This stanza gives us the experience of Old John and then gives us a contrast with the innocence of the children. 

In stanza 3 Blake changes the tone of the poem again and it becomes more serious and an adult is speaking instead of a child, this indicates that Blake’s idea of the society is changing hi is now starting to show us his thoughts on how things in society can change and how dangerous it could become. You can tell that there is a change in voice because (from child to adult) from the line,’ when we were all girls and boys.’ The line suggests that the adults are now looking out for their children and Blake is saying that they were safe to play when they were children but now the society is not safe and neither are the children. This clearly shows Blake’s change in his attitude towards his society.

In the final stanza it is the end of the day and the choice of language used by Blake suggests this, he begins to use words such as ‘weary’. Also the last stanza has a negative tone to it. The line,’ round the laps of their mothers,’ sounds like everyone is ready to go home and it is as if they are being confined to their houses as it is not safe anymore. ‘Like birds in their nests,’ is personification and the use of the simile makes it sound as if the birds are ready to rest and they are not as active. This also indicates a natural bond and a sense of protection between mother and child. Also at the end,’ sport no more seen,’ suggests that it is getting dark and there is nothing left to do, and the last line,’ darkening Green,’ sounds very threatening and quite sinister. The last stanza is also a contrast to the 1^st stanza, as there are not any sound senses unlike in the 1^st. Blake uses this to present his idea of sinister things happening, and that the society he lived in is not as safe as it used to be. ‘The Ecchoing Green’ has the same structure as that of a story, it begins with the rising of the sun and ends with the sun setting and everything coming to an end. This structure helps, as you can clearly see the way in which Blake’s attitudes towards the society he lived in change.

The poem ‘The Laughing Song’ can be closely linked to ‘The Ecchoing Green,’ as it conveys the same ideas and themes of nature and community. It also links nature with joy and happiness like the first poem,’ when the meadows laugh with lively green.’ Also ‘The Laughing Song’ has the same positive tone as ‘The Ecchoing Green.’ There is also a sense of community in the poem like in the first one as it says,’ and be merry and join with me,’ showing that everyone comes together in society.

‘The Garden of Love’ conveys Blake’s idea of disappointment and upset as his idealised society turns into a living nightmare. The poem is told from one person’s point of view. The poem begins in a negative tone and it presents us with the themes of death and despair. In stanza 1 Blake shows disappointment,’ saw what I never had seen,’ this shows that he had happy memories of the garden and that he feels let down by society. When it says,’ Garden of Love,’ it sounds romantic and happy and the name gives us an implied meaning, but as you read on through the poem you realise the title is ironic. As you get to the end of the 1^st stanza you begin to get an eerie feeling,’ in the midst,’ so you cannot see the chapel. The stanza ends with the line,’ used to play on the green,’ this is a link with ‘The Ecchoing Green,’ as he used to play there and he remembers how it was when he was young, as he did in the 1^st poem.

In stanza 2 Blake shows how much he relied on the Garden and how it let him down,’ turn’d to the Garden of Love,’ it also shows how Blake’s attitude changes as he loves the Garden at the beginning but then he is let down and he feels despair and hate towards the society for letting the Garden get so bad. Also in stanza 2 Blake conveys images of life and happiness,’ so many sweet flower bore,’ this is a contrast to stanza 1. Stanza 2 also includes images of the church, when he mentions a sign on the gate which reads,’ thou shalt not,’ this is a command and Blake is forbidden to enter, this upsets Blake and the use of the law conveys Blake’s real feelings about the society he lived in. He feels like he has been locked out and abandoned by the society. This feeling is also shown in the line,’ gates of the chapel were shut,’ where again it is very unwelcoming and restricting. At the end of the stanza Blake chooses nature,’ so I turn’d to the Garden of Love. The garden represents the Garden of Eden which was made by God, so again he chooses God, and he rejects a man-made interpretation of religion.

In the final stanza Blake again mentions the themes of death and despair,’ filled with graves.’ Also the ‘tomb-stones,’ are a contrast with the flowers in the 2^nd stanza, this is a contrast between life and death. This contrast and the structure of the stanzas, (the way they are ordered,) convey Blake’s views on society and how life can quickly change to death without any notice. The second line of the stanza,’ priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds,’ is again very unwelcoming and depressing and it gives you an image of the grim reaper which is associated with death. The line sounds like the priests are in a trance, that they have to do this; also they seem emotionless and uncaring. The final line of the stanza,’ binding with briars, my joys and desires,’ sounds like Blake’s hopes are tied up and cannot be accomplished. The poem leaves Blake feeling trapped and lonely, and this structure and the adjectives on the last line convey how alone
Blake feels and it is like the society is against him.

The poem ‘Holy Thursday’ can be closely linked to ‘The Garden of Love,’ as they both convey the same ideas of nature and theme of despair, and life turning into death. Also the line,’ rich and fruitful land,’ implies happiness and life, like it does with the flowers in ‘The Garden of Love.’ In ‘The Garden of Love,’ Blake is left disappointed and in this poem,’ babes reduced to misery,’ so again people are left alone and sad. Also the line,’ fed with cold and usurious hands,’ means that the children have no love or care shown towards them, this is just like in ‘The Garden of Love,’ when Blake is not welcome in the garden and he feels like an intruder, and no-one wants him there. In ‘Holy Thursday,’ the historical context of the poem influences the misery caused. Children used to be left on the doorstep of a church on Thursdays if they were not wanted or if their parents could not afford to keep them, therefore this caused the poverty and misery in the society. The nature and joy in’ Holy Thursday’ turns into misery,’ can it be a song of joy,’ it sounds impossible for it to be a happy song, like in the previous poem the contrast is clear. There is also another link which is, that in the previous poem all the priests seem as if they are in a trance, and this is also witnessed in ‘Holy Thursday,’ when it says,’ it is a land of poverty,’ this implies that everyone is poor and living a life of misery, so these people would seem lifeless like they were also in a trance. The poems are also similar in the way that Blake feels towards his society he feels betrayed and alone, and both poems end with Blake feeling restricted and alone in the society he lived in. His attitude changes from caring about his society to feeling he doesn’t belong there and this is clearly shown in the way that Blake structures each stanza and the way the language he uses emphasises this.

‘London’ conveys Blake’s idea of a lower class social commentary. The poem begins in a negative tone and this continues throughout the entire poem. In the 1^st stanza, Blake describes how sad and upset all the people of London are,’ Marks of weakness, marks of woe.’ This shows how Blake is being affected by the sadness of others in the society he lives in, and the line,’ and mark in every face I meet,’ emphasises this by the word mark. It does this because, mark sounds permanent like it will last forever, as will the sadness of the people. So we can already see how Blake’s attitude is changing. Also in the 1^st stanza Blake shows a clear emphasis on the word ‘every,’ which shows that it the sadness is going on in every street throughout London. On the 2^nd line the word ‘charter’d,’ indicates a sense of restriction that the streets and even the Thames have been restricted, just like the people.

In the 2^nd stanza, Blake revisits the idea of fear within the society, when he says,’ in every infants cry of fear.’ The choice of the infants within the poem suggests child suffering and poverty, which tells you how bad things really are in London. This part of the poem has been influenced by the historical context of the poem, as in pre 1914 times children were seen as a lower class, and they were not wanted, and used as slaves, so Blake uses this idea to get across the real impact and suffering of the time, so his negative attitude towards his society is really coming across in the language he is using. The line,’ in every ban,’ a ban is a curse and this symbolises frustration which Blake is trying to get across, also anger and corruption is presented to us.

In the 3^rd stanza, Blake mentions,’ how the chimney-sweepers cry,’ this again refers to the social and historical context of the poem, as the chimney sweeps would have been children and they would have been forced up the chimneys, and some children even died, they were treated as slaves. He again uses the word ‘cry’ to emphasise the real pain of the children. You begin to feel that Blake hates his society for this. The next line,’ every blackning Church appalls,’ a church in these times was a social institution, and Blake felt that the church was cruel to those in need. The church was thought to be evil and sinister and progressively getting worse, this is a contrast to the image of innocence that the church is supposed to emit. The 3^rd line,’ the hapless soldiers sigh,’ is also an example of the lower class people in London, because the soldiers did not get paid very much, for risking their lives. They also experienced suffering and the structure of the 3^rd stanza shows the change in Blake’s increasingly unhappy attitude towards the society he lived in. The last line of this stanza,’ runs in blood down palace walls,’ is a contrast to the rest of the poem because, this gives you an idea of the monarchy, as they are rich and in the upper class, whereas the rest of the poem focuses on the lower class of society. The walls of the palace are probably to keep out the poor, as they were believed to be diseased, and the walls are very restrictive. At the end of the poem Blake feels left out again as he has in the other poems that I have looked at.

In the final stanza, the negativity of Blake is at its worst, when it says,’ how the youthful harlots curse,’ it is linked to the diseases mentioned earlier on as Harlots would have not had any protection and they would have spread STD’s across the society, which refers again to the social and historical context of the poem. The last line of the poem,’ the marriage hearse,’ is ironic because, marriage is meant to be happy but then Blake ruins the only happy part of the poem by adding the word hearse, which is related to death. So yet again the poem ends on a negative phrase, this really shows us how Blake dislikes his society, as it has let him down before. Also the structure of the poem and the rhyme scheme which is, ab, ab throughout the entire poem, makes the poem sound more serious.

‘London,’ is a complete contrast with the ‘Ecchoing Green,’ as the tone in this poem is much more negative than before. It can also be linked with the progression of ideas in ‘The Garden of Love,’ as Blake makes us believe that there is something positive to come, whereas he is really building us up for a big drop in his attitude and the tone of the poem. Also Blake starts off in each poem with a bad vision and then they progressively get worse until the poem reaches the end.

‘The Human Abstract,’ conveys Blake’s idea of death and God, which are contrasting ideas. The poem is again set in a negative tone. In the 1^st stanza, ‘pity would be no more if we did not make somebody poor,’ is a contrast in ideas, as it means that you cannot have virtue without sin. The last two lines of the stanza are exactly the same as the first two as they are using the same contrast. This shows that there cannot be good without bad, so Blake is saying that nothing can ever be good in his society.

In the 2^nd stanza, the first line means that if you fear people, then if you don’t do anything it will result in peace by default, which is again a contrast. The next line,’ selfish loves increase,’ is again in a very negative tone as Blake is saying that there needs to be more of this even though it is bad. This shows that he would do anything to improve his life and society. The word ‘cruelty’ appears in the next line, and the first letter is a capital which signifies the importance of it. A sense of restriction is mentioned in the line,’ knits a snare,’ this sounds like cruelty is trying to trap all the people in the society and they are all being hunted. The last line of the stanza, ‘and spreads his baits with care,’ is personification, and it sounds as if cruelty is being careful, but really it is sinister signifying death and suffering. The adjectives that Blake has chosen so far in this poem help to emphasise his real hate towards the society, and that he feels that nothing can be done to make it better.

In the 3^rd stanza, Blake begins with,’ holy fears,’ so now Blake is having fears about religion, and fears of hell and the consequences, that are death. Then Blake gives us images of someone crying, and feeling guilty, this gives us images of growth, and it may be the beginning of personal growth. He may be starting to believe that his society could change and he could be happy. The word ‘roots’ on the 3^rd line also present us with a thought of growth and progression.

In the 4^th stanza, the tone changes from slightly positive back to negative as the poem began in this way. ‘Spreads the dismal shade,’ sounds creepy and dark and miserable, so Blake’s attitude is changing back to feeling alone and left out, he does this in this stanza by using dull adjectives. Blake is then presented with an air of mystery, on the 2^nd line, and he begins to feel confused and he does not know what is happening around him, in society. The stanza ends, with the mentioning of a ‘caterpillar and fly,’ these are known as pests today and parts of nature, which is supposed to be happy and positive. But really they spread diseases and feed on other peoples feelings. But the caterpillar also transforms into something beautiful so Blake obviously now feels that something good could come from his society, so yet again Blake’s attitude changes back to a positive one.

In the 5^th stanza, Blake feels tricked by temptation as the fruit of deceit is used to make him believe that everything will be alright, whereas really he is being deceived. In the 3^rd line it says,’ the raven his nest has made,’ the raven is used because it is associated with cruel, evil things and is known as a bad omen. The stanza finishes with the line,’ in its thickest shade,’ this gives a feeling that something dark and sinister is going on. Also the surroundings emphasise the negative image of the raven. This stanza leaves Blake feeling confused about his attitude towards his society.

In the final stanza, the 1^st two lines, present us with a well hidden tree, which seems mysterious as it is unknown to the society. On the first line it mentions ‘Gods’ which are the creators of humans, but there is a hidden cruelty in this line, as Blake is presented with more than one God so he does not know what to believe. In the last line of the stanza it says,’ human brain,’ this shows that it is in everyone, and the whole poem is summed up in this line, the poem seems insignificant after this line. It means that there is good and bad in everyone. At the end of this poem Blake’s attitude towards his society changes, he begins to think that maybe his society could change and become a place that he would like to live in.

‘London’ can be linked to ‘The Human Abstract,’ because they both convey the same idea of how people and humanity in general are presented. It can also be linked with ‘The Lilly,’ because this poem also mentions nature and its positive and negative images. The poem also begins with a negative line,’ the modest rose puts forth a thorn,’ put as you get into the poem positive images come through in the language that Blake chooses.

Overall, I think that throughout all of the poems mentioned in my essay, there is a clear trend in the way that Blake conveys his attitude towards the society that he lived in. He uses language, structure, images and contrasting ideas to do this. He uses powerful adjectives and a clear tone in each poem to emphasise his true feelings about the society he lived in. I also think that overall Blake feels confused about his attitude, but more than often Blake feels disappointment and hatred about his society. He feels this way because, in most of the poems he is left feeling trapped, restricted or left out of his society. He does not entirely hate his society because, in the final two poems we witness a change in the tone and Blake begins to feel that he could change his society.