A glorious fame: the life of Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, 1623-1673

Abstract

Margaret Cavendish was the first woman writer to write specifically for publication and to consider herself primarily a writer. She cloaked her shyness in extravagant dress and an exotic public persona. In the turbulent days of the Civil War and its aftermath, she wrote to express her hugely varied ideas. She believed in sexual equality, criticized the role of women in contemporary society and even dared to criticize the institution of marriage. Although, like virtually all women of her time, she had little formal education, she wrote (with atrocious spelling) stories, poems, essays, fancies, scientific and philosophical treatises. So controversial was her reputation that when she visited London, crowds lined the streets to watch her pass. She was the forerunner of later more widely recognized women writers such as Aphra Behn.

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