ABSTRACT
William Morris was a man of extraordinary creative energy who dedicated his life to the cause of art. Morriss hostility to the Industrial Revolution was largely based on the belief that mass production was pernicious. Whilst Morriss medievalism was less pervasive than that of Ruskin, he likewise placed a high value upon the virtues of the guild system of the late Middle Ages. In The Lamp of Life, Ruskin began to evolve a new understanding of the nature of mens work and what it meant for society. In his evidence to the Royal Commission on Technical Instruction, Morris stated that division of labour does a good deal to cheapen goods, but on the other hand he think it does a great deal to deteriorate them. Morris, however, made the transition from social criticism to revolutionary communism, earning himself a place amongst the pioneers of English socialism.
