The Blazing World

January 21, 2024 7:58 AM

Margaret Cavendish's multiverse science fiction from 1666 predates Mary Shelly, Jules Verne and Marvel by more than a century. She also published books of poetry under her own name, discussed her science research at the Royal Society, and designed gender neutral clothing that she wore at Queen Mary's court. Samuel Pepy's mentioned her a few times, although he was not a fan.
posted by autopilot (15 comments total)

She was also a staunch royalist who advocated for the divine right of kings and for gender discrimination in government, so her books are a little jarring to read by modern standards.

If you can't find the Pepy's quote, it's near the end of the diary entry and he refers to her via her husband:

Thence home, and there, in favour to my eyes, stayed at home, reading the ridiculous History of my Lord Newcastle, wrote by his wife, which shews her to be a mad, conceited, ridiculous woman

The next month he goes to see her play performed and then hoped to see her at court:

The whole story of this lady is a romance, and all she do is romantick. Her footmen in velvet coats, and herself in an antique dress, as they say; and was the other day at her own play, “The Humourous Lovers;” the most ridiculous thing that ever was wrote, but yet she and her Lord mightily pleased with it; and she, at the end, made her respects to the players from her box, and did give them thanks. There is as much expectation of her coming to Court, that so people may come to see her, as if it were the Queen of Sheba [L&M say “Queen of Sweden”. P.G.]; but I lost my labour, for she did not come this night.

A week later he does run across her and comments on the men's coat that she was wearing:

This done Sir W. Batten and I back again to London, and in the way met my Lady Newcastle going with her coaches and footmen all in velvet: herself, whom I never saw before, as I have heard her often described, for all the town-talk is now-a-days of her extravagancies, with her velvetcap, her hair about her ears; many black patches, because of pimples about her mouth; naked-necked, without any thing about it, and a black just-au-corps. She seemed to me a very comely woman: but I hope to see more of her on Mayday.

Pepy's was also a member of the Royal Society and mentioned the vote about her coming to a meeting:

After dinner I walked to Arundell House, the way very dusty, the day of meeting of the Society being changed from Wednesday to Thursday, which I knew not before, because the Wednesday is a Council-day, and several of the Council are of the Society, and would come but for their attending the King at Council; where I find much company, indeed very much company, in expectation of the Duchesse of Newcastle, who had desired to be invited to the Society; and was, after much debate, pro and con., it seems many being against it; and we do believe the town will be full of ballads of it. Anon comes the Duchesse with her women attending her; among others, the Ferabosco, of whom so much talk is that her lady would bid her show her face and kill the gallants.

posted by autopilot at 8:07 AM on January 21 [10 favorites]

Wikipedia has a nice quote from Virginia Woolf about her considered from our modern era

the vast bulk of the Duchess is leavened by a vein of authentic fire. One cannot help following the lure of her erratic and lovable personality as it meanders and twinkles through page after page. There is something noble and Quixotic and high-spirited, as well as crack-brained and bird-witted, about her. Her simplicity is so open; her intelligence so active.

posted by Nelson at 8:21 AM on January 21 [5 favorites]

Podcast, Stuff You Missed In History Class, covered her a couple years back. I'd never known of her before then.
posted by 2N2222 at 9:41 AM on January 21 [1 favorite]

I read The Blazing World a while back. I appreciated super imaginative stuff like this:

The rest of the Inhabitants of that World, were men of several different sorts, shapes, figures, dispositions, and humors, as I have already made mention, heretofore; some were Bear-men, some Worm-men, some Fish- or Mear-men, otherwise called Syrens; some Bird-men, some Fly-men, some Ant-men, some Geese-men, some Spider-men, some Lice-men, some Fox-men, some Ape-men, some Jack daw-men, some Magpie-men, some Parrot-men, some Satyrs, some Gyants, and many more

And also especially the epilogue's defense of imagining other worlds:

By this Poetical Description, you may perceive, that my ambition is not onely to be Empress, but Authoress of a whole World; and that the Worlds I have made, both the Blazing- and the other Philosophical World, mentioned in the first part of this Description, are framed and composed of the most pure, that is, the Rational parts of Matter, which are the parts of my Mind ... And in the formation of those Worlds, I take more delight and glory, then ever Alexander or Cesar did in conquering this terrestrial world

I do remember a lot of it involving embedded dialogues, speeches, etc. on natural philosophy, which I think makes texts like this or, similarly, Cyrano de Bergerac's Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon (1657) more difficult than they could be, though not as difficult as Johannes Kepler's proto-SF infodump Somnium (1640). So the proto-SF I'd nominate from the 17th C. that features relative readability and IMO more connections to the proto-science of the day than to natural philosophy is Francis Godwin's The Man in the Moone (1638).

But The Blazing World has so much to it that's fun and strange--very worth reading.
posted by Wobbuffet at 10:54 AM on January 21 [11 favorites]

Margaret Cavendish's multiverse science fiction from 1666

Calling "The Blazing World" science fiction is extremely aspirational and calling it a multiverse story is plain old incorrect. The framing belongs to the genre of Traveller’s Tales, and the fantastic world serves only as a chance to make philosophical/political statements on the real world.

Jonathan Swift produced the most famous (parody) version with Gulliver’s Travels some sixty years later, but the form can be found in Greek literature and was perhaps over-represented in the Islamic Golden Age.

This is the first example believed to be written by a woman though, and is much more interesting for its political and social commentary than its fantastical framing.

—————

The genre calls for the traveler to be greeted with more than open arms, awarded riches and station, and in general given full access to upper society to make their observations. It is fair to call the protagonists Marty Stus, and as such it is very possible that The Lady is in fact the first Mary Sue.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:06 AM on January 21 [20 favorites]

Thanks so much for sharing this. I had never heard of her, and am now off to learn more.
posted by rpfields at 11:19 AM on January 21

fascinating human!

but....Ever time y'all bring up another English Civil War contemporary ya git me ta thinkn bout that Roman Empire again....
posted by djseafood at 12:06 PM on January 21

The Blazing World is also part of Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:35 PM on January 21 [8 favorites]

She also wrote poetry on scientific and philosophical subjects, for example, on atomic theory:

The square flat Atomes, as dull Earth appeare,
The Atomes Rownd do make the Water cleere.
The Long streight Atomes like to Arrowes fly,
Mount next the points, and make the Aiery Skie;
The Sharpest Atomes do into Fire turne,
Which by their peircing quality they burne

This seems to be a synthesis of the atomic theories of Plato (four types of atom, one for each of the four elements) and Democritus (atoms with different shapes that give them their properties).
posted by cyanistes at 12:36 PM on January 21 [7 favorites]

Here is the Youtube link to the 41 minute podcast titled - 'Margaret Lucas Cavendish's Blazing World: Stuff You Missed in History Class'

The link is to YouTube because the iHeart radio network podcast official page is - for inexplicable reasons - region locked and inaccessible to me in the UK ::sigh::
posted by Faintdreams at 3:23 AM on January 22

And of course, DC introduced a multiverse long before Marvel.
posted by Billiken at 5:52 AM on January 22

Kate Lister's Betwixt the Sheets podcast had a recent episode on her also.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 8:18 AM on January 22

...some were Bear-men, some Worm-men, some Fish- or Mear-men, otherwise called Syrens; some Bird-men, some Fly-men, some Ant-men, some Geese-men, some Spider-men, some Lice-men, some Fox-men, some Ape-men, some Jack daw-men, some Magpie-men, some Parrot-men, some Satyrs, some Gyants, and many more

Sounds like the Fragments of Empedocles:

..On it (the earth) many heads sprung up without necks and arms wandered bare and bereft of shoulders. Eyes strayed up and down in want of foreheads...Solitary limbs wandered seeking for union.

Who was he who gave us the four elements of Earth, Air, Wind and Fire, all of which were the products of Love and Strife.
posted by y2karl at 9:50 AM on January 22

Mod note: This post has been added to the Best Of blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:59 AM on January 24

Merve Emre's article in The New Yorker (1/29/2024), "Margaret Cavendish’s 'Mad' Imagination" [archive], suggests in the URL and very briefly in the text that's it's a review of Francesca Peacock's recent 384-page biography, but, uh, "To read Francesca Peacock's diligent and measured biography of Cavendish, 'Pure Wit' (Pegasus), is to become aware of how little one can confidently claim to know about her"--followed by a lot more about her and ... nothing more about the biography. Merve Emre previously, previously, and previouslier.
posted by Wobbuffet at 11:18 AM on January 29