The Act of Sex: Is It Worth the Consequences? in William Blake's Poem, The Sick Rose

There is a women gasping for her life while trying to escape from a rose in both of the illustrations that are set for one, individual poem. Most roses represent positively-themed symbolism depending on their colour. For example, the universal symbol for a red rose is love. In relation, the two colours used in each of the pictures are deep red/crimson and white, which are not typical rose colour choices. The deep red rose is used in the original illustration of the poem and it symbolizes unconscious beauty. William Blake may uses this colour because the woman that is trying to escape from the rose, may only be internally beautiful. The woman may be very young, grotesque or unsightly. The deep red rose represents the woman because it is the only available colour around her, so it stands out and defines her. Also, the woman is shaded white, which symbolizes purity and youth. She seems to be getting captivated by the crimson colour. The woman is losing her innocence, cleanliness and peace. The white rose is presented in the final illustration for the poem which symbolizes innocence and purity, which is the same symbolism as the colour white and the woman. She is staying the same shade from the original picture and now matches the colour of the white rose. It is portrayed as if the woman is fighting off the crimson colour in the previous picture and now is gaining her innocence and peace back. Overall, the rose symbolizes an innocent woman who is now forced to live with the punishment of an act.
Firstly, the figurative language is a major component of “The Sick Rose”. Blake uses personification to describe two main elements of the poem. The title of the poem gives away the first use of personification. “The Sick Rose”; a rose canno...

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...sex, she was happy and joyful because she is finally being deflowered. It is known that she was a virgin because of the imagery Blake provided for her bed of crimson joy. Soon after, she realizes that she has made a big mistake, even if those moments of sex made her happy. She has to live with a disease for the rest of her life. She is not fully understanding about it until a significant amount of time passes (thirty years in between the two illustrations). If the two illustrations were not presented for this poem, the readers would not gain an understanding of the poem fully. Blake tells the continuation of the poem and storyline without using literature. The moral of the poem is even if one makes a mistake and catches a life-threatening disease, it does not define who they are. Overall, the woman caught the undesireable infection and she learned to live with it.