Conclusion

Abstract

To what extent could it be claimed that there was a direct Methodist influence on Blake? Against Mee’s argument that Blake’s use of Wesley and Whitefield in his epic poetry was more an attack on the Hunts than a defence of Methodism as such, I suggest that Wesleyan Methodism was a significant component in Blake’s complex and eclectic theology which might better be understood in the context of Methodism and other comparatively mainstream forms of eighteenth-century religious thought. Indeed, Blake’s explicit albeit infrequent allusions to the Methodist leaders imply less a casual interest than a direct engagement with the movement; and his polemic against the Hunts, in the figure of Hand, could well be seen as an indirect defence of it.