William Blake Argument
Among the multitude of bewildering paradoxes in William Blake’s “Proverbs of Hell” is that which claims “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom” (class handout). It is bewildering in the case that traditional moral teachings recognize overindulgence as sinful. After all, it is routine to condemn the wealthy, who possess more than enough, while simultaneously pitying the poor, whose possessions are meager. So how is it that Blake distorts this view to illustrate excess as not only a positive feature, but also as a desirable result, one that leads to the procurement of wisdom? Interestingly, Blake’s proverb does live up to its name, presenting a seemingly contradictory truth, but with two potential interpretations. In one instance,