Notes on how Blake and Dickens portray London

Literature from 19^thcentury England portrays London in many different ways. The fact that this time was very controversial era between the success and beauty of the city and the treatment of the working and lower-class citizens is reflected through the works of writers such as William Blake and Charles Dickens. In Blake’s poem “London,” he details the tragedy that is the lives of common Londoners. Every face Blake sees has “marks of weakness, marks of woe.” His repetition of the work “every” emphasizes how widespread these injustices are and show that every man, every infant, every person he sees is suffering. Men and children are crying, soldiers are dying, women are forced into lives as harlots and have even more children that cannot be taken care of. The image Blake paints of London in this poem is a dreadful and almost hyperbolic one, and one that represents disgust for a city plagued with such horrors.

In his essay “Night Walks” Charles Dickens paints a more realistic but equally depressing image of London. Blake focuses on the weariness of the people in his poem, but Dickens acknowledges it as a whole in London; not just found in the people, but in the rivers and architecture as well. Dickens is more realistic in his portrayal in that there seems to be no use of hyperbole in his text, but rather a tone of frankness. For example, he states that “to walk on to the Bank, lamenting the good old times and bemoaning the present evil period, would be an easy next step, so I would take it…” He is rather straightforward in not only his admitting that the present times are “evil” but that the activity he described is the easy thing to do, so he did it. This tone carries throughout the piece. He still admits the wonders of London, such as the “perfection of [the] stupendous institution” that is the walls of British Parliament and that “Covent-garden Market, when it was market morning, was wonderful company.” It is these admissions intertwined with the descriptions of the horrors Dickens has seen during his night walks that supports the reality of his portrayal of London. Overall, both writers have some rather unpleasant things to say about London in the 19^thcentury, but whereas Blake is more hyperbolic in his approach, Dickens is more realistic and still shows that there is something to be admired in the great city. London used to be great, and could be great again, but in the present time of these works she and her people are suffering.