Visions of the Daughters of Albion by William Blake

Visions of the Daughters of Albion is a 1793 poem by William Blake, produced as a book with his own illustrations. It is a short and early example of his prophetic books, and a sequel of sorts to The Book of Thel. The central narrative is of the female character Oothoon, called the "soft soul of America", and of her sexual experience. S. Foster Damon (A Blake Dictionary) suggested that Blake had been influenced by Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women, published in 1792.

Oothoon is in love with Theotormon, who represents the chaste man, filled with a false sense of righteousness. Oothoon desires Theotormon but is suddenly, violently raped by Bromion. After Oothoon is raped neither Bromion nor Theotormon want anything to do with her. They are all chained by the expectations of society. If Theotormon had realized that sex is not illicit, he may have had a healthy relationship with Oothoon. Bromion is enslaved by his violent act.

The foundation myth of Britain arises out of The New Chronicles and The Brut's depiction of the daughters of King Dioclician plotting to murder (or actually succeeding in their plans) their husbands and being banished to sea only to shipwreck on an island they name Albion. The idea of the oppression of women and the manner in which they vindicate themselves, coupled with the idea of the quest and of the search, set the background for William Blake's elucidation of his theosophical assertions of the divinity of man in his epic poem "Visions of the Daughters of Albion". In spite of the fact that Blake's mythology is totally recreated, as he did not want the associations that his readers would usually draw from common mythological names to interfere with the world he was trying to establish through his poetry, Blake's dealings with Albion are rooted fundamentally in the historical tradition of which he is most indelibly a part.

The fact that there are conflicting myths surrounding the biographies of these early principals lends credence to the idea that the myth itself is not as important as the message that the myth is trying to convey. That it has exceeded the boundaries of plausibility while still maintaining a credible thematic and plot structure proves that it can still serve as the legendary beginnings of a particular race of people. It does not matter, therefore, that an adherent to the myth is forced to believe that a boat with neither rudder nor oars would find as its first natural landing point on being set loose in the Aegean an island that lay at a right turn beyond the coastlines of Italy, North Africa, France, and the Iberian Peninsula. The gods could have guided it there without its having to be some magic boat. It also does not matter that once on the island the sisters of Albyna would suddenly find themselves attracted by demonic spirits of the air and impregnated with demigod giants who later ...