Margaret Cavendish
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
A certain Lady is kidnapped, shipwrecked, and transported to the extraordinary Blazing World, where she marries an emperor and attains unlimited power. Hers is a benevolent reign that ends war, religious conflict, and gender discrimination. Remarkably, the Lady's story was conceived in the seventeenth century, when utopian fiction was in its infancy. The tale is all the more noteworthy for its progressive ideals, its female protagonist, and its authorship...
Author
Language
English
Description
The Convent of Pleasure (1868) is a closet drama by Margaret Cavendish. Intended for private performance rather than the stage, The Convent of Pleasure is a comedy that critiques the institution of marriage and explores the possibility of lesbian desire in a patriarchal society. Published under the author's own name - a rare feat for a woman of her time - The Convent of Pleasure is a groundbreaking work of queer utopian literature that continues to...
Author
Language
English
Description
First published in 1666, "The Blazing World", is both one of the first novels written in English and one of the earliest works of science fiction. This utopian classic, by Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, is also one of the earliest works by an English woman. Cavendish was an outspoken feminist, at a time when such ideas were virtually unheard of, and a pioneering advocate for a more modern view of gender roles and equality. "The Blazing...