Bøger af Margaret Cavendish

When Margaret Cavendish published her first collection of dramatic work in 1662, she was keenly aware that none of her comedies or tragedies was unlikely to be acted, at least in her lifetime--but that did not deter her. "To those that do delight in scenes and wit / I dedicate my book," she writes at the beginning of the volume entitled, simply, "Plays."As for the hard reality that her plays were not to be produced? She has an answer for that as well: "For all the time my plays a-making were, / My brain the stage, my thoughts were acting there.""The Female Academy," the last play in her 1662 collection, opens with a fait accompli-a group of "old matrons" has established an educational institution devoted exclusively to the education of young women, "a house wherein a company of young ladies are instructed . . . to speak wittily and rationally, . . . to behave themselves handsomely, and to live virtuously." In this play, Cavendish presents the Female Academy as an institution created by women, inhabited solely by women, and operated for the benefit of women. The play also allows us to see the reactions of men, excluded from the Female Academy. Instead of ignoring the school, or wishing its young pupils well in their educational pursuits, men can't stay away-they hang around and spy on what's going on through "a large open grate" that allows them to hear the lectures being given inside. The play alternates scenes between the young women inside the Female Academy and the increasingly frustrated men in the outside world.This new edition, designed for classroom use, provides an ample introduction to Cavendish and her work, a carefully modernized text, with helpful glosses and notes, and a useful bibliography with references for further reading.

Margaret Lucas Cavendish, duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673), began her literary career in 1653, with the publication of a volume of her poems and another of her "philosophical fancies." Her writing continued at a hectic pace for nearly two decades. She did not limit herself to the genres considered "acceptable" for those few women who dared to publish in the late seventeenth century; instead, she wrote philosophical and scientific works, a utopian romance that has often been called the first work of science fiction in English, a biography of her husband, and her own autobiography. She also published two collections of dramatic works: the first of these, Plays, appeared in 1662, the second, Plays, Never before Printed, in 1668.Cavendish was keenly aware that her comedies and tragedies were unlikely to be acted, at least in her lifetime, but that did not deter her. "To those that do delight in scenes and wit / I dedicate my book," she writes in a brief poem at the beginning of Plays. She continues, "For all the time my plays a-making were, / My brain the stage, my thoughts were acting there."Today the most widely read of Cavendish's plays is The Convent of Pleasure, from Plays, Never before Printed. In this provocative comedy, Cavendish presents us with the delightful Lady Happy, whose determined efforts to avoid the pains of men and marriage lead her to construct a convent where women can devote themselves to enjoying life's pleasures. The women who retreat with her into the Convent of Pleasure are determined to avoid not only the dangers of men and marriage but also of childbirth and motherhood. Even so, they will not deny themselves the pleasures of love. Inside her convent, Lady Happy dares to imagine a radical alternative to marriage: since men and marriage cause only pain and suffering, perhaps a woman can fulfill her emotional and sexual desires with another woman. When she finds her soul's mate in a princess (rather than a prince), Lady Happy poses a critical question to herself and to us: "But why may not I love a woman with the same affection I could a man?"This Saltar's Point Press edition, designed for classroom use, provides readers with an ample introduction to Cavendish's life and work, a carefully modernized and well-presented text, helpful glosses and notes, a bibliography with references for further reading, and a chronology of Cavendish's published work.

The Blazing World is a satirical, utopian kingdom that can be accessed through the North Pole. A young woman enters this world, becomes the empress of a society composed of talking animals, and organizes an invasion back into her world.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

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 inform and inspire artists and critics alike. "Put the case I should Marry the best of Men, if any best there be; yet would a Marry''d life have more crosses and sorrows then pleasure, freedom, or hapiness: nay Marriage to those that are virtuous is a greater restraint then a Monastery." Tired of the ways of men, Lady Happy encourages her friends to join an experimental cloister devoted to feminine autonomy, friendship, and desire. Despite opposition from angry Monsieurs and the skeptical Madam Mediator, the woman forge a tight-knit group and seem prepared to defy the institution of marriage while pursuing romantic relationships with their fellow women. Before long, a mysterious Princess seeks entry to the convent. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Margaret Cavendish''s The Convent of Pleasure is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

Shipwrecked in an alternate world, a young woman leads the natives to a society free of war and that champions equality. > by Margaret Cavendish serves as a testament to the talent and innovation of the 17th century author. With the exploration of topics such as gender, power, sexuality, religion, science, and philosophy, the book challenges convention and provides thoughtful entertainment.

The Blazing World is one of the most fascinating, unusual and astonishing pieces of literature in the English language. Written in 1666 by Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, the story follows a young woman who is transported to a world of animal-people, becomes their empress, and eventually leads an invasion back into her own world, complete with bird-man bombardiers and submarine ships. The tale involves spirit possession, astral projection, the many-worlds theory, and an interdimensional otherworldly queer romance that is centuries ahead of its time. Featuring numerous full-page and spot illustrations, and housed in an elaborately die-cut and embossed slipcase, this is an heirloom edition designed to be a work of art in its own right. With an introduction by Brooke Bolander. 9x12", 138 pages.

In recent years, academic interest in Margaret Cavendish has greatly increased as scholars from across the humanities strive to outline her contributions to seventeenth-century debates about natural philosophy. This edition aims to make her most mature and important work more accessible to students and scholars of the period.

An eclectic collection of poetry by one of 17th century England's boldest, smartest, and independent women.Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was a groundbreaking writer-a utopian visionary, a scientist, a science-fiction pioneer. She moved in philosophical circles that included Thomas Hobbes and René Descartes, and she produced startlingly modern poems unlike anything published in the seventeenth century or since, at once scientific and visionary, full of feminist passion and deep sympathy with the nonhuman world. In recent years, Cavendish has found many new admirers, and this selection of her verse by Michael Robbins is an ideal introduction to her singular poetic world.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

First published in 1666, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle's Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World is the first fictional portrayal of women and the new science. This Broadview Edition includes related historical materials on the new science and Cavendish's role in the intellectual world of her time.

"From the second edition, published in 1668, in London, by A. Maxwell."

Paper Bodies was the phrase Margaret cavendish used to describe manuscripts of her works. This volume includes her most famous work, The Description of a New World, the story of a young woman who travels through the North Pole to a strange new world.'

Margaret Cavendish's 1668 edition of Observations upon Experimental Philosophy, presented here in a 2001 edition, holds a unique position in early modern philosophy. Cavendish rejects the Aristotelianism which was taught in the universities in the seventeenth century, and the picture of nature as a grand machine which was propounded by Hobbes, Descartes and members of the Royal Society of London, such as Boyle. She also rejects the views of nature which make reference to immaterial spirits. Instead she develops an original system of organicist materialism, and draws on the doctrines of ancient Stoicism to attack the tenets of seventeenth-century mechanical philosophy. Her treatise is a document of major importance in the history of women's contributions to philosophy and science.

The writings of Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, are remarkable for their vivid depiction of the mores and mentality of 17th century England. Yet paradoxically, she was probably unique for her time in the extent to which she herself transcended the rigid categories of gender and class that defined most people's lives.

Written during the English Civil War and Interregnum when the public theatres were closed and Margaret Cavendish was living away from England in exile, Bell in Campo and The Sociable Companions are scathing satires that speak to the role of women's agency amidst this cultural tumult. In Bell in Campo, a group of virtuous women follow their husbands to war and, refusing to remain docilely out of harm's way, form an army of their own. The Sociable Companions details the struggles of four women from impoverished Royalist families trying to survive in a rapacious marriage market at the war's end. This Broadview Edition presents these two complementary plays together, along with supplementary materials on Cavendish's life, the participation of women in the combat of the English Civil War, the conduct of the Royalist military forces, and seventeenth-century social and marriage conventions.

This major contribution to the series of Cambridge Texts includes the first ever modern edition of the Divers Orations of Margaret Cavendish, together with a new rendition of her classic imaginary voyage, A New World called the Blazing World. Susan James provides all of the usual student-friendly editorial features.

A valuable collection from an extraordinary writer, "The Convent of Pleasureand Other Plays raises important issues about women and gender.