Margaret Cavendish Flashcards
On what side was the Cavendish family in the Restoration business?
On the monarchy’s side – they had to leave England until Charles II was on the throne.
What worked was “The Blazing World” published with?
Her serious treatise on Natural Philosophy: “Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy”.
She thought the two would balance each other out and be a good exercise for the mind.
Was her husband supportive of her efforts?
Yes, which was unusual at the time. He even wrote an introductory poem to “The Blazing World.”
What is the full title of “The Blazing World”?
“The Description of a New World, Called The Blazing World”
What are two common themes in Cavendish’s writing?
- fluidity of gender/gender roles
- fluidity of genre
- interrogation of systems of knowledge
What is V. Woolf’s opinion of Cavendish in “A Room of One’s Own?
That she produces chaotic and “masculine” texts
What are some biographical similarities we can find in this text?
- Cavendish is “abducted”/exiled from England before the Restoration
- Makes an advantageous marriage in Exile
- Inhabits a social space where she is able to have some degree of control. Her husband supports her writing and she gains access to male-only space like the Royal Society. As she says in the book, she creates her own realms through writing, which she rules.
- Cavendish makes it a condition of the text that her husband gets back everything he lost as a Royalist before the Restoration
Compare to More’s Utopia?
- Cavendish advocates for monarchy, rather than republic-type structure More promotes
- More was primarily interested in social changes; Cavendish is interested in that, but also invents new kinds of technology for her world
- More wants rare gems/things of value to have no place in Utopia; Cavendish just redistributes them
- More’s Utopia interacts/uses the known world; only the Lady’s intervention prompts the Blazing World to do so
- Similar treatment of religion (not Christian, but many/most pray to a single powerful God; men and women are separated in religious ceremonies)
- Both alternative societies are presented as being excellent at war AND invested in study
Discuss Science in this text.
- Paired with a scientific text
- The Blazing World is full of inventions (like submarines or new engines and ships)
- Some of the questions the Lady wants them to answer are real scientific questions (nature of stars, microscopes, etc.)
- The Lady’s right to rule seems connected to her interest in science
- satire of the Royal Society in some of the actions of the animal-men
- But there’s also lots of religious/philosophical questions too
How does the Lady get to the Blazing World?
She’s in a ship that gets stalled in the North Pole. The cold kills everyone else but her, and keeps sailing past the boundaries of the known world.
Who occupies the Blazing World?
Races of animal-men who all speak the same language, but have different interests
To what civilization is the Blazing World compared?
Rome
What is the Empress bad at?
Math
How does Cavendish enter the narrative?
The Empress requests the scribes to bring her a soul to help her write down her Cabbal
What is there an allegorical trial about?
Whether Fortune should act more kindly towards the Duke of Newcastle
