The female voice has been both controlled and ignored in a male dominated society. The issue of women’s subjection has focused on social and sexual problems in relation to historical and cultural dynamics that have been in place since Aristotle’s Politics. This study examines the female voice in the poetry of William Blake. In the earlier prophetic poetry of The Books of Thel, Visions of the Daughters of Albion, and Europe, the female voices of Thel and Oothoon attempt to challenge assumptions about feminine identity and oppose their subordination defined by the patriarchy of the 1790’s. This paper focuses on the development of the female voice of resistance rooted in feminine sexual identification as approached through the figures of Blake’s prophetic visions. In the 1790’s, Blake prophetically predicted women’s sexual identity in a way that would not become reality for another 200 years.

• 강옥선(동서대학교) | Kang, Ok-sun (Dongseo University)