The Role Of Motherhood In Infant Joy By William Blake

The role of mothers and their sacrifice has been a valued part of society for millennia. Although women now hold a much more advantageous place in society as members of the workforce, women are still encouraged to pursue more domestic goals as wives and mothers as well. It would be difficult to find an unmarried middle-aged woman who hasn’t been asked when she will finally snag a husband or a young couple that hasn’t fended off nosey relatives wondering when they’ll decide to expand their family. However, while society views child birth and motherhood as one of the greatest miracles of life, this sentimental perception has been challenged by many women and writers throughout history, including William Blake. Throughout his works Blake†¦show more content†¦The mother responds with equal happiness, calling her baby â€Å"Pretty Joy† and â€Å"Sweet Joy† and crying â€Å"Sweet Joy befall thee!† (Blake, 26). However, while the mother and child in the poem both appear deeply bonded by their overwhelming happiness, the conversation between the mother and her child can also be read as a more controlling and forceful interaction. At first it appears that the mother and the child in the poem are conversing back and forth, but it is more likely that the mother is actually speaking for the child and imagines a back and forth conversation in her mind. When read this way, the baby has no agency in deciding their name and is unable to describe his or her true emotions to the mother. It could be that the child isn’t happy at all but is feeling tired, grumpy, or hungry instead, and by speaking for her child the mother imposes happiness on her child rather than simply blessing it with more joy. In fact, the mother seems much more enamored with the idea of joy than with the baby’s true emotions when she exclaims, â€Å"Sweet joy befall thee! / Pretty joy! /Sweet joy but two days old, / Sweet joy I call thee; / Tho u dost smile. / I sing the while/ Sweet joy befall thee† (Blake 26). The word â€Å"joy† appears on almost every line of the stanza and the baby’s voice drops out of the poemShow MoreRelated A Lacanian Study of Motherhood in the Poems of William Wordsworth1990 Words   |  8 Pages William Wordsworth was a prolific poet of the Romantic movement, perhaps best known for publishing Lyrical Ballads with friend and fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798. These poems were written in what Wordsworth described as a ‘common tongue’ with a focus on themes often found in Romantic poetry, such as the pastoral, the mythical, fragmentation, heroism and satire. In Lyrical Ballads one recurring subject almost unique to Wordsworth in its passion and persistence is that of motherhood