Language:
English
Year of publication:
1996
Titel der Quelle:
ELH - English Literary History
Angaben zur Quelle:
63,1 (1996) 139-152
Keywords:
Blake, William,
;
Antisemitism History 1800-2000
Abstract:
The attitude of William Blake (1757-1827) toward the Jews was contradictory, ranging from moderately philosemitic (and conversionist) to virulently antisemitic. His most scathing anti-Jewish remarks were not intended for public consumption; they are found in his notebooks and in annotations to other works (especially Watson's "Apology to the Bible, " 1796). Blake attacked Judaism and Jews in order to assail Deism as well as organized Christianity, and to justify his own version of Christianity. However, his anti-Jewish remarks exceed the rhetoric required for attacks on these targets. Blake rejects the claim that Judaism was the first monotheistic religion and the precursor of Christianity, he associates the Jew with Satan, brands biblical Jews as liars, wicked, and "murderers and revengers, " and denies the Jewish origin of Jesus. Blake's shifting attitude bespeaks, at the very least, classic symptoms of antisemitism, ranging from demonological superstitions inherited from the Middle Ages to resentment and anxiety about the Jews as the chosen people.
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