Ashgate Critical Essays on Women Writers in England, 1550-1700 Volume 7: Margaret Cavendish

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Synopsis

A maverick in her own time, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673) was dismissed for three centuries as an eccentric crank. Yet the past few decades have witnessed a true renaissance in Cavendish studies, as scholars from diverse academic disciplines produce books, articles and theses on every aspect of her oeuvre. Cavendish's literary creations hold a wide appeal for modern readers because of her talent for thinking outside the rigid box that delimited the hierarchies of class, race and gender in seventeenth-century Europe. In so doing, she challenged the ultimate building blocks of early modern society, whether the tenets of Christianity, the social and political imperatives of patriarchy, or the arrogant claims of the new Baconian science. At the same time, Cavendish offers keen insights into current social issues. Her works have become a springboard for critical discourse on such topics as the nature of gender difference and the role of science in human life. Sara Mendelson's aim in compiling this volume is to convey to readers some idea of the scope and variety of scholarship on Cavendish, not only in terms of dominant themes, but of critical controversies and intriguing new pathways for investigation.

Book details

Series:
Ashgate Critical Essays on Women Writers in England, 1550-1700
Author:
Sara H. Mendelson
ISBN:
9781351964852
Related ISBNs:
9780754660811, 9781315264707
Publisher:
Taylor and Francis
Pages:
432
Reading age:
Not specified
Includes images:
No
Date of addition:
2023-07-13
Usage restrictions:
Copyright
Copyright date:
2009
Copyright by:
N/A 
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Categories:
Language Arts, Literature and Fiction