Who was Margaret Cavendish ("The eccentric")?: Margaret was considered rather eccentric by the rest of the society. This was because she was excessive and flirty, and she was even accused of utilizing 'oaths and vulgarity' in her speech and was known for her unconventional sense of style. Even now, when Margaret is sometimes referred to as "Mad Madge," her reputation for eccentricity endures. Without a question, Margaret's greatest accomplishment was her writing, since she wrote poems, dramas, literary critiques, volumes of "observations," and even works on natural philosophy. Cavendish writings address different topics such as gender, power, manners, scientific method and philosophy. She wrote extensively in natural philosophy and early modern science and her number of publications is twenty one.
-Summary of the work:
·Margaret Cavendish's utopian and science fiction book "The Blazing World" tells the story of a protagonist whose identity is kept a mystery for the majority of the book but is referred to as the empress.
·The protagonist's adventure starts when she is abducted by a merchant that eventually abandons her. She arrives in a magical world where different animal-like males live and in which she becomes the empress because of her different look.
·The protagonist interacts with academics and experts from a variety of fields in this realm of wonder and exploration, such as the bear-men (experimental philosophers), fish-men (marine science; natural philosophers), worm-men (geology; natural philosophers), the bird-men (astronomers), the fox-men (politicians), the spider-men (mathematicians), the parrot-men (orators and logicians), the Gyants (architects), the ape-men (chemists), and the Satyrs (her Galenick physicians).
·As the empress, she gains knowledge from everyone she meets and uses that information to start making choices and rule her world. When it is revealed that she must act since her home Earth is being attacked, the story takes a tragic turn.
·Upon arriving in the unknown Blazing World and the surprising kindness of its inhabitants: "The Lady now finding her self in so strange a place, and amongst such wonderful kind of Creatures, was extremely strucken with fear, and could entertain no other Thoughts, but that every moment her life was to be a sacrifice to their cruelty; but those Bear-like creatures, how terrible soever they appeared to her sight, yet were they so far from exercising any cruelty upon her, that rather they shewed her all civility and kidness imaginable" (p.8).
·The creatures in this Blazing World: "the men were of several Complexions, but none like any of our World; and when both the Boats and Ships met, they saluted and spake to each other very courteously; for there was but one language in all that World: nor no more but one Emperor, to whom they all submitted with the greatest duty and obedience, which made them live in a continued Peace and Happiness; not acquainted with Foreign Wars or Home-bred Insurrections". (p.11).
·Her curiosity for knowing about the different professions of the blazing world and questioning them and the inmaterial spirits: "about the sun and the moon (the two Coelestial bodies), the Blazing stars, the coelestial objects, the different kinds and compositions of animal creatures, the metals and minerals, the beginning of forms, the inmaterial spirits, the transmutations in chemestry, the philosopher-stone, the diseases, the art of disputing, the imposition of a religion, the remembrance and memory, numbers, the beginning of creation, the stars and planets, the inmaterial bodies and material creatures, the souls, good and evil, the creation of species".
-The Second Part of the Description of the New Blazing-World: The protagonist returns to where she came from and desires to put an end to the war that is happenning: " but I intend to make you the most powerful Nation of this World, and therefore I have chosen rather to quit my own Tranquility, Riches and Pleasure, than suffer you to be ruined and destroyed. All the Return in Desire, is but your grateful acknowledgment, and to declare my Power, Love and Loyalty to my Native Country" (p. 87). + Beatiful description of how she gains the power to be respected in a world in which she was only a shadow: " it caused a great admiration in all that were present, who believed her to be some Celestial Creature, or rather an uncreated Goddess, and they all had a desire to worship her; for surely, said they, no mortal creature can have such a splendid and transcendent beauty, nor cany any have so great a power as she has, to walk upon the Waters, and to destroy whatever she pleases, not only whole Nations, but a whole World" (p. 91).
-Key work in feminism: The novel emphasizes the value of education and self-improvement, especially for women. The protagonist questions the spirits and interacts with specialists from a variety of professions; this may come across as arrogant at first, but it is ultimately motivated by a sincere desire to learn. She also directly questions patriarchal conventions by taking on the character of an authoritarian empress who rules the Blazing World. She also disobeys social norms and established rules, exhibiting a great amount of agency as she attempts to establish her own path as an empress in order to fulfill her goals, desires and aspirations. Her portrayal as the perfect example of feminist principles is further strengthened by her independence and her creativeness.
·The ambition of Margaret: "And of the Gold, I should desire only so much as might suffice to repair my Noble Lord and Husband's Losses: for, I am not Covetous, but as Ambitious as every any of my Sex was, is, or can be; (...) yet, I will endeavour to be, Margaret the First: and, though I have neither Power, Time nor Occasion, to be a great Conqueror, like Alexander, or Caesar; yet, rather than not be Mistress of a World, since Fortune and the Fates would give me none, I have made One of my own" (p.5) + "I endeavour to be as singular as I can; for, it argues but a mean Nature, to imitate others (...) I should chuse to be imitated by others: for my Nature is such, that I had rather appear worse in Singulairty, than better in the Mode. If you were not a great Lady, replied the Empress, you would never pass in the World for a wise Lady: for, the World would say, your Singularities are Vanities". (p.94).
-Interesting encounter with the character of the duchess: As an opposition to the empress, the Duchess in "The Blazing World" represents the familial and social restrictions imposed on women in Margaret Cavendish's time. She emphasizes the restrictions placed on women by standing for the traditional roles and expectations assigned to them. The Duchess's character adds depth to the narrative's examination of female empowerment and feminist ideals by highlighting the complexities of the female experience, particularly the conflict between social obligations and personal desires, in contrast to the empress, who represents agency and authority.
Works Cited
Cavendish, Margaret. The Blazing World. 1666.
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