Dear Prof. Levy,
Reviewing your comments on Margaret Cavendish, I'd just like to
quibble! The Duke and Duchess of Newcastle did not support the Puritains,
nor did they do nicely in the civil war.
Margeret Cavendish met her husband while she was one of Henrietta Maria's
Ladies in Waiting in the government in exile in France. While the Duke
did exit the field during a crucial battle (mainly because he was
annoyed at the irresponsible actions of Prince Rupert), this does not
make him a puritian supporter! They were
both royalists to the core. The Duchess WAS sent during the civil war to
petition the puritians for the return of a part of their (confiscated)
wealth, but failed abjectly.Interestingly as women were not considered to
be subjects, they were not held responsible
for their husband's actions, this gave them some leyway in demanding part
of the estates back.. After the Restoration, much of the
Newcastle estate was returned to the family (they had considerable
influence) but both of them remained bitter against the King because they
didn't get it all back (although they did better than most). "The Blazing
World" is full of Margaret's complaints about how
their loyal support during the war (they donated most of their remaining
wealth to the King's cause) was unrewarded. But they still didn't support
the Puritians!
Most of the current critical interest is in Cavendish's utopianism and her
position as an early scientific philosopher, although there is some work
on her closet drama and a play called the "Convent of Pleasure", where a
bunch of men enter an all female convent and *sigh* it disbands as they
all fall in love and marry. The single best article (in my view) about
Cavendish is by Catherine Gallager in the journal _Genders_ in 1988, where
she interrogates Cavendish subjectivity as a woman and an unabashed
aristocrat. Cavendish said something like "As I can not be Henry the V, I
can at least be Margaret the First!". And so she was.
That said, I'm very intersted in your dissertation work on Cavendish,
particularly her poetry as very little has been written about it. Could I
possibly have the date of your diss. so I can find it and possibly get it
out on interlibrary loan?
Yours quibblingly,
Tanya.
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