WILLIAM BLAKE AND THE DAUGHTERS OF ALBION

WILLIAM BLAKE AND THE DAUGHTERS OF ALBION

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William Blake and the Daughters of Albion Helen P. Bruder

First published in Great Britain 1997 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-39529-3 ISBN 978-0-230-37957-2 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230379572 First published in the United Stales of America 1997 by ST. MARTIN'S P RESS,INC.. Scholarly and Re ference Division, J75 Fifth Avenue, New York. N.Y, 10010 ISBN 978-0-312-17481-1 Library of Congress C.taloging in l\lblication Data Broder, Helen P. William Blake.nd ille daughters of Albion I Helen P. Broder. p. em. i ru; ludes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-3 12-17481-1 (cloth) L Blake, William, 1757-1827-Characters- Women. 2. Blake. William, 1757-t827-Political and social views. 3. Feminism and lileralure-england- HiSlory-18th century. 4. Women and Hleralurc-England--History-18th century. S. Patriarchy in literature. 6. Sex role ill literature. I. Title. PR4148.W6B78 1997 821'.7--dc21 97-7119 CIP Illllclen P. Bruder 1997 All rights rcsc... ed. No reproduction. copy or transmission of this publication may be made without wrillen permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced. copied or transmitled save with wrillen permission or in accordance with the provisions o f the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence pcrmitling limited wpying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Coun Road. London W IP 9UE. Any person who docs any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and ciyil claims for damages. The author has asscl1ed her ri&hllo be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This book is printed on paper sui table fof" recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. to 9 8 7 6 5 06 OS 04 03 02 0 1 4 3 2 00 99 98

For Charlie, 'and they sang soft thro' Lambeth's vales, In a sweet moony night & silence they had created'

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Contents List of Plates Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations viii ix x 1 Blake Studies: A Critical Survey 1 2 The Sins of the Fathers: Patriarchal Criticism and The Book of Thel 38 3 'Slip-Sliding Away': Some Problems with 'Crying Love' in the 1790s 55 4 Blake, the Rights of Man and Political Feminism in the 1790s 90 5 'Go Tell the Human Race that Woman's Love is Sin': Sexual Politics and History in Blake's Europe - A Prophecy 133 6 'Conclusion' 179 Notes and References 184 Select Bibliography 280 Index 283 vii

List of Plates 1. Title-page to The Book of Thel 2. Title-page to Visions of the Daughters of Albion 3. 'The Able Doctor, or America Swallowing the Bitter Draught' (1774) 4. Europe - A Prophecy, plate 5(6) 5. Europe - A Prophecy, plate 6(7) 6. Europe - A Prophecy, plate 7(8) 7. Europe - A Prophecy, plate 17(18) 8. 'The Contrast' (1792/3) The references given at the end of captions for Plates 4-7 inclusive are those given in the William Blake Illuminated Books: The Early Illuminated Books, Volume 3 and The Continental Prophecies, Volume 4, published by the William Blake Trust and the Tate Gallery. viii

Acknowledgements I am grateful to the staff of the Bodleian Library and Oxford Brookes University Library. In particular I want to thank Brookes Inter-Library loan librarians for the speed and generosity with which they have dealt with my endless stream of pink and blue forms. Thanks also go to Charmian Hearne at Macmillan and to the supervisors of my postgraduate research: Susan Matthews, Paul O'Flinn, Colin Pedley and Nicolas Shrimpton. Judith Barbour and David Worrall provided great encouragement and inspiration; as did all the students whom I have been privileged to teach over the last five years. My friends have also helped me immeasurably. In particular I want to thank Sam Mace, for always listening (and only occasionally laughing) and Vicki Bertram, because she has almost proved Blake right in his observation that 'Opposition is true Friendship'. I also want to thank the following people for their wisdom, indulgence and (most importantly) for their refreshing company: Michele Allen Miles, Paula Booth, Jenni Cockram, June Davies, the Gaines girls of Cardiff, Darren 'Mr Pastry' Green, Maria Hardy, Christen Lemieux, Caroline Morrell, Ann Ross and Roz Tallett. Great thanks also to 'The Kicking Daffodils' (the best women's football team in Oxford), for the many occasions on which they have given me something other than myself to kick. Finally, and most profoundly, I wish to thank my family. Jane made this book possible. Her love and support over the past six years have convinced me beyond doubt that 'there is no friend like a sister'. I also want to thank my Mum and Dad for their faith in me. Without this encouragement I doubt I'd ever have put pen to paper. Lastly, I dedicate this work to Charlie Wakeham, the woman who once rescued me. ix

List of Abbreviations All quotations are from The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, ed. David V. Erdman (New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1982). Plate references in brackets are from David Erdman, The Illuminated Blake (New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1974), unless otherwise stated. POEMS, PROSE WORKS AND ANNOTATIONS All Religions NNR Thel FR Lav Songs LGL MHH VDA Am Europe SL Urizen Ahania FZ Milton Jerusalem DC All Religions are One There is No Natural Religion The Book of The[ The French Revolution Annotations to Lavater's Aphorisms on Man Songs of Innocence and of Experience 'A Little GIRL Lost' The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Visions of the Daughters of Albion America: A Prophecy Europe - A Prophecy The Song of Los The Book of Urizen The Book of Ahania The Four Zoas Milton a Poem in 2 Books Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion A Descriptive Catalogue JOURNALS BJECS BN BNYPL BRH British Journal for Eighteenth Century Studies The Blake Newsletter Bulletin of the New York Public Library Bulletin of Research in the Humanities x

List of Abbreviations xi BS BQ CLQ ECS ELN MLQ PMLA PQ SiR SP WC Blake Studies Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly Colby Library Quarterly Eighteenth Century Studies English Language Notes Modern Languages Quarterly Publications of the Modern Languages Association of America Philological Quarterly Studies in Romanticism Studies in Philology The Wordsworth Circle