The joy in creation - William Morris' socialist ideal of art

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, Humboldt-University of Berlin (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: Seminar: Pre-Raphaelite Sensualities, language: English, abstract: William Morris was a poet, a political activist, a designer and a craftsman of the 19th century. As a part of the Arts and Crafts Movement, he is mainly known today for the last two categories due to his major influence on various artists.

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In the following, Morris¿ notion of art in connection with his political thinking shall be outlined. It will be analysed how he imagined art to be in the future. It is only possible to explain his socialist ideal of art in contrast to the contemporary role of art in society. Therefore, a description of the circumstances in Morris¿ time will follow his definition of art. His own work as an artist will be assessed roughly in terms of his socialist ideal. In line with this, the limits of his work caused by the social circumstances at his time will be mentioned.