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3.01 AVERAGE
3.01 AVERAGE
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Should be read by people interested in the evolution of sci fi. Contains useful themes for my PhD, but not the most engaging plots or characters.
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Somethings about this were interesting and others were tedious. I found it interesting as one of the earliest examples of what became "scientific romance". I was interesting as a window into what an upper class woman of the Enlightenment would have been thinking about and what kind of reading and education she had access to, although I don't think she is probably a representative case considering the freedom her situation allowed. As far as scientific romances so, it is pretty primitive. It doesn't have much of a plot or developed characters. It's more of a fantastical daydream. A large middle part of the book is taken up with pretty tedious "philosophical" arguments that she has with the various societies in the world she visits. The end has a very fantastical part where she dresses up in diamonds and returns to Earth to take it over on behalf of her home Kingdom.
A few months ago, I read an article in the Guardian Review about the Penguin Classics series. The author of the article selected ten titles – apparently at random – to illustrate the richness and variety of the works available from Penguin. I realised that of the ten works, I had only read one, so I resolved to read the other nine this year. This is the fourth of those nine that I’ve read so far.
Like most female writers before the modern era, Margaret Cavendish was of the elite. The fact that she became Duchess of Newcastle by marriage is an indicator of her social status. As such she had access to a level of privilege far beyond what was available to lesser mortals – male as well as female – in the seventeenth century. But as a woman she had precious little opportunity to put her talents to practical ends. She doesn’t seem to have had much education as a child, but as a young adult she must have spent a great deal of time educating herself as, at the age of thirty, she suddenly unleashed a torrent of fiction, philosophy, letters, plays, poetry, autobiography and a biography of her husband. The result is a mixture of radicalism, proto-feminism, social conservatism and a respect for hierarchy (she was on the Royalist side in the Civil Wars).
What we’re presented with in this edition is three works of creative fiction that constitute a tiny taster of Her Grace’s oeuvre. All three focus on a woman, or women, negotiating a world ruled by men. Although The Blazing World is the centrepiece of the collection, my favourite was Assaulted and Pursued Chastity in which the heroine disguises herself as a young man and achieves great things simply because in appearing to be male she is given the freedom to use her intelligence, fortitude and multifarious talents without any gender constraints. I found The Blazing World more difficult. There is a lot of scientific and philosophical material packed into it which might have been cutting edge when it was written but now seems slightly dull. What makes the Blazing World close to a utopia is that it only has one religion that is celebrated in one way with no doctrinal divisions or sects. This is an obvious comment on Margaret’s own turbulent times when religious controversy and division caused so much violence and bloodshed. Another interesting feature is the idea that if you’re not entirely happy with the world as it is, you can create a better world in your mind. I suspect that Margaret spent a large amount of her time doing just that.
As I said, this is a taster of Margaret’s work, and I would happily read more if I could find it.
Like most female writers before the modern era, Margaret Cavendish was of the elite. The fact that she became Duchess of Newcastle by marriage is an indicator of her social status. As such she had access to a level of privilege far beyond what was available to lesser mortals – male as well as female – in the seventeenth century. But as a woman she had precious little opportunity to put her talents to practical ends. She doesn’t seem to have had much education as a child, but as a young adult she must have spent a great deal of time educating herself as, at the age of thirty, she suddenly unleashed a torrent of fiction, philosophy, letters, plays, poetry, autobiography and a biography of her husband. The result is a mixture of radicalism, proto-feminism, social conservatism and a respect for hierarchy (she was on the Royalist side in the Civil Wars).
What we’re presented with in this edition is three works of creative fiction that constitute a tiny taster of Her Grace’s oeuvre. All three focus on a woman, or women, negotiating a world ruled by men. Although The Blazing World is the centrepiece of the collection, my favourite was Assaulted and Pursued Chastity in which the heroine disguises herself as a young man and achieves great things simply because in appearing to be male she is given the freedom to use her intelligence, fortitude and multifarious talents without any gender constraints. I found The Blazing World more difficult. There is a lot of scientific and philosophical material packed into it which might have been cutting edge when it was written but now seems slightly dull. What makes the Blazing World close to a utopia is that it only has one religion that is celebrated in one way with no doctrinal divisions or sects. This is an obvious comment on Margaret’s own turbulent times when religious controversy and division caused so much violence and bloodshed. Another interesting feature is the idea that if you’re not entirely happy with the world as it is, you can create a better world in your mind. I suspect that Margaret spent a large amount of her time doing just that.
As I said, this is a taster of Margaret’s work, and I would happily read more if I could find it.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Cavendish spins the I globe fom her finger tip, catches it in her palm, and turns it upside down.
The blazing world is a wild, chaotic adventure that blends genres, including romance and time travel.
This was really not for me. The prose is beautiful but I found the story boring.