It has been said that “the human condition… is to live as the fallen image of God.” In light of this view of the human condition, this essay explores how religion sculpts people's understanding of human existence in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Religion was a fundamental component of life in the early modern period and greatly shaped the literature of this era, allowing writers to explore the nature of the human condition in light of the religious beliefs prevalent in their societies. Texts such as "Hamlet" and "Songs of Innocence and Experience" were heavily driven by Christianity, as a form of the Christian church dominated England during both periods in which they were written. Shakespeare would also be influenced by the effects of the Renaissance movement, whereby scholars began to question the ideas of the Church: for example, the questioning of the divine right of kings is significant in Hamlet. We see a progression in thought between the Renaissance and Blake's time, with the Enlightenment bringing with it changing attitudes towards God and religion. The movement towards rationality through scientific thought and observation pushed Blake to draw on his notions of spirituality, to counter the emerging ideas of the Age of Reason and expose "the two contrary states of the human soul". Blake and Shakespeare both keep the lens of religion on human corruption, awareness of mortality, the role of women, and the idea that humans are created in the image of God. Elements of both texts describe the sacred and divine nature of humanity, probably indicating that humans are indeed formed in the image of God; Interestingly, in exploring this image, the writers indirectly explore the idea of ​​God himself. However, it could also be argued that the pervasive themes of corruption and moral degradation in the lyrics provide a stark contrast to this, demonstrating the fallen state of humanity. It is therefore possible to argue that each text presents a hyperbolic dichotomy of human nature: the two incomplete views within each text only begin to truly represent humanity when juxtaposed. First, the lens of religion is used to explore the image of humans in comparison. to the image of God. For example, "The Divine Image" suggests that man and God are indeed similar as they both embody the Christian virtues of "Mercy, Piety, Peace and Love"; the poem's regular quatrains and lilting meter create a sense of innal serenity to support this. However, this idea is probably slightly dissimilar to the idea that humans are created in the image of God, since the claim that God "is" these values ​​implies that he is simply the apotheosis of human virtues - a creation in some way mental. This was consistent with the beliefs of many dissenters, who focused on the existence of the Holy Spirit in every person, and this is supported by Blake's belief that "all deities reside in the human breast". “The Human Abstract” further expands these ideas, analyzing the ideals and arguing that if this is our understanding of the constitution of God and human nature, humans have accepted the suffering of others, since these virtues would not exist without their antitheses negative. . Writing that the “fruit of deception” grows “in the human brain,” Blake argues thathumanity has regressed to a divided existence, constructing oppressive social values ​​to maintain this state. The “fruit” alludes to the biblical story of the Garden of Eden, further establishing this notion of the Fall. Similarly, Shakespeare exposes an almost paradoxical contrast between the different aspects of human nature as Hamlet asks: "What work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties,...how angel-like in action , apprehensive as god-like:... - and yet, for me, what is this quintessence of dust?' In his soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 2, Hamlet initially describes humans using the semantic field of divinity, comparing them to "an angel" and "a god", implying that humans exist as the image of God. However, he contrasts this with the moral corruption of humanity, and thus declares humans useless – a "quintessential dust". Critic Harrison states that humans "see the earth as a matrix of pain, death, corruption and tragedy", and this is probably true of Hamlet, who seems to corroborate the belief that the true state of humanity is that of the Fall. Hamlet's constant reflection and indecision in contrasting opinions on humanity and morality can be seen as similar to the structure of ". Songs of Innocence and Experience." In creating a collection of two separate and hyperbolic visions, Blake indirectly suggests that it is necessary to analyze both sides of the dichotomy to ascertain the truth about the human condition. Hamlet's statement that humanity is a "quintessential dust" alludes to a line from Ecclesiastes 3:20 - 'to dust you are, and to dust you shall return'. Religion has been shown to shape characters' awareness of mortality, and this idea of ​​death as a corollary to life is used by authors to explore the meaning of life itself. For example, in Blake's "Laughing Song", the maxim "Come, live and be merry" echoes the phrase "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die" - an amalgamation of verses from the biblical books Ecclesiastes and Isaiah - thus implying the carpe diem philosophy and suggesting that the brevity of life means people should seize the day. The poet's use of regular quatrains reflects his decision to employ a children's verse style to imitate the controlled, moralistic verse typical of Enlightenment poetry. Instead, instead of outlining binding rules, Blake parodies the form and message of these poems and encourages spontaneous joy. However, the childlike tone and simplistic repetition of words such as "merry" and "ride" throughout the poem likely convey the speaker's naivety, indicating that this view of life is flawed and incomplete. This view of “Songs of Innocence” is contrasted in “The Fly” by “Songs of Experience,” which instead suggests that the transience of life makes it somehow irrelevant, the same as that of a fly. The metaphor of the “thoughtless hand” swatting away the fly is used to create a subtle parallel to the insignificance of human life to our supposed creator. Similarly, in Hamlet's soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 2, he laments the uselessness of life: "How tired, stale, flat and useless / All the uses of this world seem to me!" The sense of meaninglessness and hopeless discouragement - emphasized by the exclamation and the adjectives "weary" and "flat" - is also explored in Act 5, scene 1. After the discovery of Yorick's skull, Hamlet reflects on the capacity of death of turning great rulers like 'imperious Caesar' into banalities: 'dead and turned to clay'. “Clay” indicates a lifeless malleability in stark contrast to his former “imperious” royalty.However, an alternative idea about mortality explored by the authors is that death is liberating, primarily because it frees the soul from the burden of the mortal body. . The importance of the soul is conveyed in "Hamlet" by the Ghost's anguish of being "homeless, disillusioned, united, as this relates to not having received three holy Christian sacraments conducive to the salvation of his soul." This triadic structure of adjectives with the prefixes "un-" and "dis-" emphasizes the sense of lack and the unnatural nature of the Ghost's situation. Similarly, ideas about the soul are represented in “The Little Black Boy” and “The Chimney Sweep,” poems that describe that the mortal body is ephemeral but the spirit is enduring. "These black bodies and this sunburnt face/Are but a cloud" and "Naked and white, all their bags left behind" connote the impermanence of the human body, with the "black" and "sunburnt" mortal body carries implications of being tainted and sinful with respect to the description of souls, which has connotations of innocent purity as conveyed by "white" and "naked". The inevitability of death also makes it a powerful equalizing force: as Hamlet wittily states, "Thy fat king and thin beggar are but a variable service: two plates, but on one table." Writers likely use religion to explore various perspectives on mortality and the evanescence of life, without claiming that any particular view is the absolute truth. The theme of mortality in literature often alludes to the concept of original sin, as the inevitability of death is seen. by some as a consequence of the biblical fall of humanity. Therefore, this theme connects to the authors' use of religion to explore corruption. Blake introduces “Songs of Experience” with a prophetic bard mourning the “fallen soul” of humanity, and this allows us to read the later poems in the collection – such as “Holy Thursday” – in light of the concept of the Fall. This poem highlights society's selfishness and avarice in the guise of pity, with phrases such as "eternal winter" and "bleak and bare" connoting the unnaturalness of this state of being. 'Eternal winter' demonstrates a cold, callous lack of empathy, and the alliteration using the harsh, plosive 'b' consonants in 'bleak and bare' furthers the atmosphere of misery and hardship. Blake portrays the idea of ​​a deleterious false piety in order to expose the corruption of the Church and condemn organized religion. As a dissident, he detested the hierarchy of the Church, as well as the hereditary power system of the monarchy and the inequality it caused; the influence of Paine's book "The Rights of Man" on Blake is evident. Beyond this, "Songs of Experience" was shaped by Blake's horror at the tyranny of the French Revolution: in this part of the collection, he more openly explores the corruption of the Church, monarchy and government. Corruption has also been shown to be an agent of entrapment for humanity, symbolized by the "mind-forged handcuffs" in "London". Blake reveals the idea that suffering has its roots in the physiological world, with the mind imprisoning humanity, and 'handcuffs' echoes the famous phrase from Rousseau's 'The Social Contract': 'Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. ' The image of restriction permeates the poem, with charter implying a lack of volition and freedom, the repetition of "every" showing the pervasiveness of suffering, and the use of antanaclasis with the words "mark" and "mark" which they create a sense of being. permanently contaminated. In addition to highlighting the misery caused by social corruption, Blake denigrates the Industrial Revolution - the antithesis of Romanticism - and the poverty and torment it caused. Likewise,"Hamlet" also explores the theme of corruption, but focuses more on social corruption. monarchy than in Blake's collection. Grindlay argues that "King Hamlet can be seen as the embodiment of a fragile Eden being denuded by sin", and this is highlighted by Shakespeare's portrayal of Claudius' sinful nature. King Hamlet states that Claudius has poisoned "the whole ear of Denmark" and repeatedly describes this using the metaphor of a serpent: "sleeping in my orchard, / A serpent has stung me"; “The serpent that stung your father's life/Now wears his crown.” 'Serpent' recalls the biblical serpent of Eden, a powerful symbol of evil and deception. When Marcellus states, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark," he alludes to the questioning of divine right and the Great Chain of Being, the belief that God has decreed a hierarchical structure that runs throughout life, with the King at the vertex. of the human hierarchy. However, religion has been shown to allow these corrupt characters to recognize and understand their sin, so it could therefore be argued that - whileFallen: these characters retain a sense of morality. This means that they do not completely depart from the image of God if we define it as the model of human ideals. For example, we see the influence of Christianity on Claudius' soliloquy in Act 3, scene 3: "Oh, my offense is vulgar, it stinks to the heavens; / Has the oldest primordial curse upon it -/Murder of a brother." The "primordial curse of the elder" he refers to is the curse of Cain, the son of Adam who killed his brother in a fit of envy. A powerful dramatic device, this soliloquy makes it clear to the audience that when Claudio is left alone on stage, his conscience overwhelms him. Here we can see the influence of morality plays on Shakespeare's writings - developed in the Middle Ages, focusing on the conflicts of individual souls. Finally, the writers use the lens of religion to explore women's roles and what it means to be female. In Blake's "The Sick Rose", the rose is undoubtedly a symbol of femininity, beauty and female youth, while the "invisible worm" is reminiscent of the biblical serpent, with the additional idea that this corruption is hidden. A similar idea about invisible corruption is put forward when Hamlet tells his mother, "corruption of rank, miner all within, / Infects invisible", although here the difference is that Hamlet is arguing that Gertrude is bringing corruption upon her if. However, both examples contain the theme of easily corruptible women, showing the limited change in attitudes towards women between Shakespeare's and Blake's eras. There is also a sexual element to Blake's poem, with the worm suggesting a phallus and the "crimson joy" recalling passion, shame, sin and pleasure. Blake is probably highlighting the expectations of purity that weighed on women of the time, chastity being one of the seven Christian virtues and lust one of the seven deadly sins. Believing that the Fall had created a division between the sexes - separation where unity was needed - Blake felt that human sexuality had become distorted, possessive, and inhibited. Similarly, in “Hamlet,” the sexual inhibitions that Ophelia is constrained by are evident as Hamlet instructs her, “be chaste as ice, pure as snow.” The similes describe the extent to which Ophelia is expected to remain pure, but they probably also show the cold and unsatisfactory nature of this chastity that circumscribed all women in Shakespeare's time. Critic Grindlay states that "the images of the natural world that both Gertrude and Ophelia depict transform them into.