Download or read book William Blake’s Comic Vision written by N. Rawlinson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2002-11-05 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Blake's comic brilliance has been variously dismissed as the nervous ramblings of a neglected genius, the tomfool doodles of a distracted youngster, or a crude tool for destabilizing textual authority. But, for the eighteenth century, comedy played a pivotal role in debates on aesthetics, education, spirituality and morality. This exciting new study blends a close reading of Blake's early work with fascinating historical research to demonstrate that the comic was an essential component of Blake's artistic Vision.