Corruption and Capitalism as seen in William Blake’s London
William Blake’s London is a portrayal of the poor living standards that existed in the industrial age of London due to the capitalistic greed of the aristocracy and the moral corruption of the clergy and of the elite. The industrial age of London was both beneficial and destructive to society. Industrialization brought forth many changes in the western world politically, socially, and economically. People began move into the cities as industrialization made agriculture more productive meaning more jobs were created in the cities. There was a rise in the demand for a workforce which was not restricted by any child labor laws leading to a dark time in the history of labor. The clergy began to lose power over the people as religion took a backseat to a capitalistic system that had people craving to be part of the upper class as the schism between the elite and the poor began to increase in size.
The very idea of an imperialist and capitalist system consists of the exploitation of the many for the benefit of the few which meant that the factory owners had ample opportunity to keep costs down as profits expanded. Blake writes, “I wander through each chartered street/ near where the chartered Thames does flow” (Ln 1-2), and one receives the imagery of the city along the river, and symbolically rivers have always represented freedom and adventure. The image Blake is attempting to present is that of the city which has become a prison for those that seek freedom. The majority of the people live in derelict slums and are trapped in an endless cycle of debt as they work several hours a day for the opportunity to have enough to eat. The people of London live in a state of constant agony because the river stands as a reminder of the freedom that is so near yet is never truly attainable. Blake wanders through each “chartered” street, meaning that most parts of the city of London have been industrialized to maximize the export of goods thereby increasing the profit margin. London now faced a growing social problem due to overcrowding and poor living conditions. Blake goes on to write “And mark in every face I meet/ Marks of weakness and marks of woe” (Ln. 3-4), conveying the suffering of the people as they watch the freedom of the river flowing while they work to death in the factories. Pain is literally seen in the faces of the workers in London because the industrial era machinery was highly hazardous to a workers health due to the extremely likely event that one such worker would be mangled by the equipment. Although this was an era without labor laws, hazard restrictions, or adequate healthcare, workers kept working because families had to be fed and survival was the primary objective. When the parents were no longer able to provide than children became the workforce because of their unique size and ability to reach into places that would be inaccessible to grown adults such as the inside of machinery. This was the beginning of child enslavement in the industrial age.
Children learn in a variety of ways, but the most beneficial way seems like the least productive, through play. Children learn to interact socially and about morality through play with other children but when a child is forced to work in potentially life threatening situations the child loses innocence. Blake writes, “In every infants cry of fear” (Ln 6), referring to the child workers of London who live in constant fear of death because of the dangerous lives they lead as part of the workforce. Blake later specifies the kind of work the children do, “How the chimney-sweepers cry” (Ln 9), because the children were often forced to have the most hazardous jobs possible since they had no one to lobby on their behalf. Children were often orphaned because at the time of the British Industrial Revolution, England had to have a strong navy to protect all of its territories and therefore the British Navy had a nasty habit of kidnapping able-bodied men to be enslaved as sailors in the Royal Navy. This left a lot of fatherless children who now needed to go into the world and make the living to support their families. The river once again stands as a symbol for freedom where one can find nature. Mankind’s connection with nature has been well documented since nature has the unique ability to refresh the view of a person’s life, but modern society is centralized in the “chartered” streets of the city, distancing a person from the positive effects of nature.
London was the economic center of a capitalistic regime that preyed on all people especially citizens of the lower class. The elite’s efforts worked on entrapping the people in a permanent state of poverty thus suppressing the majority’s ability to create change through peaceful methods. The second stanza indicates the expansive nature of the suffering cause by imperialistic greed “Every cry of every man…infant…voice” (Ln 5-7). The second stanza ends with “The mind-forged manacles I hear” (Ln 8), which indicates the power of the few elite to brainwash the masses, because the people are prisoners of their own minds. The “manacles” are restriction placed upon the lower class people both by Parliament as well as their own mental obstructions because when the majority of people are suffering people begin to accept their existence and this creates a complacent feeling in their minds. Blake’s use of the word “chartered” in reference to the streets in the first line and to the River Thames in the second line prove his belief that he believes that even nature is privatized. The fact that Blake refers to the river, the ultimate symbol for freedom and perpetual change, as a piece of property that can be owned displays how London has become imprisoned by its own economic system and focus of wealth. There is no relief for the people of London because the Elite have ensured that freedom is unattainable because freedom is a luxury afforded only to the aristocracy and members of the clergy.
The clergymen in the industrial age have lost their connection to god and therefore have taken an inactive stance towards the immoral actions by the aristocracy of London. Blake says, “How the chimney-sweeper’s cry/ every black’ning church appalls” (Ln 10), and there is double meaning in Blake’s diction. The word “black’ning” refers to the soot from the factories that would darken the floors of the church, but “black’ning” also refers to the loss of morality by the church. The church’s reputation becomes far more tarnished as the clergymen exploit child labor. It is very difficult to live life by the word of god when the men who are supposed to have the closest connection with god are just as corrupt as the capitalistic owners that keep the poor in a state of perpetual poverty. The city of London is a vicious cycle that starts with the capitalistic dictators that exploit cheap labor, and then the clergy chooses to look the other way as child labor is exploited to remove the soot caused by the factories. Commercial profiteering has corrupted the government of London. Even the soldiers that fight for England protests the imperialistic actions taken by the country,” And the hapless Soldier’s sigh/ Runs in blood down Palace walls.”(Ln 11-12). Typically a sigh is a form of exasperation, and the soldier has been exhausted both physically and emotionally due to the violent nature of their profession. A man with a heart of darkness still feels remorse towards killing another man, but England was attempting to conquer the world which meant invading foreign land and killing the innocent natives. At one point in history there was no corner of the world where the sun did not shine on England and the unlucky soldier’s sigh was a demonstration of protest towards these pointless wars. The blood of the innocent paints the walls of the palace red, and the soldier is too weary to fight. The soldier and the chimney sweep are both relatable figures that are just two of the victims in the crosshairs of capitalism.
The overall idea of London, is that capitalism is a corrupt system and will infect every part of an organism until the organism eventually dies. The city of London is the organism, and the top officials have all been infected by imperialistic greed, the parliament, the clergy, and even nature seem to have all been “chartered” by the English government. Blake’s last stanza encompasses the full scope of the suffering, “But most thro’ midnight streets I hear/ How the youthful Harlot’s curse/ Blasts the new-born Infant’s tear” (Ln 13-15). Blake recognizes the problem with prostitution in the city, but prostitution is a commercial practice, and a “youthful harlot” brings to mind the symbol of innocence of a little girl who has yet to be deflowered and combines this idea of innocence with capitalistic gain, and therefore the innocent girl is now a harlot, who becomes pregnant not out of love but out of commercial gain. The baby, another symbol for innocence, is corrupted since birth because the “harlots curse” is the various diseases contracted by her profession and this can be passed on to the child, and the baby will always be a reminder to the mother of her method of survival and so the baby will grow unloved. The final line says “And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse”, which reinforces the spreading of disease through immoral actions. The “marriage hearse” is an oxymoron because marriage is supposed to signify the beginning of a new life together, but coupled with the word “hearse” indicates Blake’s view on marriage. The sanctity of marriage has been forsaken by commerce, because now the woman in the marriage must spend the remainder of her life being subservient to her husband who spends money on prostitution all while the church keeps up a façade about the piousness of marriage. Nothing is sacred and no one is spared. The wants of the few overshadow the needs of the many. That is Capitalism in its most basic form.
Blake has a very bleak outlook on the future of London. The first line of the last stanza, “But most through midnight streets I hear” (Ln 13), shows Blake as the traveler wandering at midnight. “Midnight”, itself is a time of day where one ends and the other begins. Although London is in the middle of a social crisis, there is hope because no story with a tyrant has ever ended well. The newborn infant symbolizes hope, which is born from the corruption and tyranny of evil men. The end is near which is why the time is midnight, and a new dawn will soon be rising. London is written in Petrarchan sonnet form confining the poem to 16 lines of alternating rhyme. Blake captures so many different ideas in the confines of 16 lines that the reason the poem is so concise is that it symbolizes the city of London. London is confined to a limited space just like the poem and London is a prison for the many workers of the city just like the poem is a prison for ideas because the very use of a sonnet sets restrictions much like the restrictions that the people of London face. London, is a ballad in the sense that the overall tone of the poem is morose, and Blake’s participation in the poem through the use of first person pronouns indicates that he is suffering from the moral corruption as well. London is at the center of the world during Blake’s experience and it is very saddening to see the best the world has to offer. Even god had his price, and the rivers are chartered. Nothing is sacred and no one is spared.
Modern society is run by a capitalistic system and people are always going to be exploited because the tyranny of evil men will always want a bigger slice of the pie. It is disheartening to learn that innocence will be stolen from you in the modern world. People will always be exposed to corruption and such exposure can taint the innocence of the youth which grow to be the future corruptors. Morality is a trait that mankind has never naturally possessed because capitalism is the economic version of survival of the fittest and children are raised with the belief that they are in competition with everyone else in the world. Humans have a tendency to be self-destructive and this creates a problem because the usual reason that people are self-destructive is greed. Money and economic trade plays such an important role in society that it becomes easy to overlook the social unrest that affects the majority. Capitalism teaches that in order to survive you have to eat or be eaten and 200 years ago it was no different. The people eventually revolted and a more socially based system was put into effect, but the suffering continues and as long as capitalism exists, so will corruption. The blackened church has been cleaned, the blood washed off the palace walls, but the corruption of men remains and one will always hear the cries of the chimney-sweep, the sighs of the hapless soldiers, and the screams of the newborn infant.
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