Visionary Materialism in the Early Works of William Blake The Intersection of Enthusiasm and Empiricism

This new study, explores the connection between religious enthusiasm and empirical science in Blake's early work and the eighteenth century. Green integrates three divergent strands of Blake scholarship: of Blake's relationship with empiricism, his affiliations with radical Protestantism and investigations into his artistic theories and practices. Green concludes his discussion by looking ahead to representations of Blake's thought in Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses .

Matthew J. A. Green is Lecturer in English Literature, University of Nottingham.