An anyalysis and response of William Blake's "The Book of Thel" and a short commentary on Blake's everpresent theme of innoccence vs. experience.
William Blake's contrast between innocence and experience is apparent in another book, aside from those that are named respectively, that was produced in 1789, The Book of Thel. Thel is a maiden who resides in the Vales of Har, which seems equivalent to the sheltered state of peace and innocence in the Songs of Innocence. Feeling unfulfilled and useless, Thel is invited to assume an embodied life by Clay. In doing so, she is exposed to …
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The maiden is shocked by this peek into her own sexuality and mortality and runs back to the quiet vales of Har "with a shriek" (6.21). For Thel there will be no blending of the spiritual (Har) and physical (Clay's land of experience) realms, and therefore transcendence is impossible for her. Her short vision is limited to either innocence or experience. She cannot live in Blake's world of finding the middle ground between two extremes.
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