The Blazing World

“And this is the reason, why I added this Piece of Fancy to my Philosophical Observations, and joined them as two Worlds at the end of their Poles.”

Cavendish explains why she has included both her nonfiction and her fiction works in one volume through the metaphor of two planets joined at the pole, foreshadowing the connection between her imagined worlds. By using this imagery, Cavendish primes her audience to consider the value of connecting two different spheres of thought: male versus female, scientific versus imagined, and now versus the future.

“I should desire only so much as might suffice to repair my Noble Lord and Husband's Losses: For, I am not Covetous, but as Ambitious as ever any of my Sex was, is, or can be; which makes, that though I cannot be Henry the Fifth, or Charles the Second, yet, I endeavour to be Margaret the First: and although I have neither power, time nor occasion to conquer the world as Alexander and Cesar did; yet, rather than not to be Mistress of one, since Fortune and the Fates would give me none, I have made a World of my own.”

Cavendish openly declares her ambitions, just as the Duchess does later when first talking with the Empress. By boldly discussing her aspirations and thirst for fame, Cavendish breaks the societal rules and expectations for women of her day. She also connects her writing imagination with the conquests of great military commanders, foreshadowing the war for absolute rule in ESFI in Part 2.

“Those few men which were in it, not knowing whither they went, nor what was to be done in so strange an Adventure, and not being provided for so cold a Voyage, were all frozen to death; the young Lady onely, by the light of her Beauty, the heat of her Youth, and Protection of the Gods, remaining alive.”

The Lady’s survival reflects a divine goodness that justifies her rule of the Blazing World. By connecting her youth and beauty to light, Cavendish calls upon Christian religious imagery and its association with the divine rights of kings. Her association with light also foreshadows the consistent confusion of observers, who often mistake the Empress for a goddess.

“No sooner was the Lady brought before the Emperor, but he conceived her to be some Goddess, and offered to worship her; which she refused [...] At which the Emperor rejoycing, made her his Wife, and gave her an absolute power to rule and govern all that World as she pleased.”

The Empress is confused for a goddess three times in the text. Here, the misidentification suggests the Empress has a divine right to rule, which reflects Cavendish’s Royalist beliefs pertaining to the fitness and ideal nature of absolute monarchies. The Emperor’s immediate and complete support of the Empress also reflects Cavendish’s ideal male partner.

“Of the States men she enquired, first, Why they had so few Laws? To which they answered, That many Laws made many Divisions, which most commonly did breed Factions, and at last brake out into open Wars. [...]That as it was natural for one Body to have but one Head, so it was also natural for a Politick body to have but one Governor; and that a Common-wealth, which had many Governors was like a Monster with many Heads. Besides, said they, a Monarchy is a divine form of Government, and agrees most with our Religion: For as there is but one God, whom we all unanimously worship and adore with one Faith; so we are resolved to have but one Emperor, to whom we all submit with one obedience.”

Unity and harmony are Cavendish’s primary political concerns. After experiencing the difficulty of the Interregnum years in England, she concluded that absolute monarchical rule is the best solution to heal national division—a belief she inserts into the text. Like she does throughout the work, Cavendish connects political power to religious right and natural fitness.

“After they had thus argued, the Empress began to grow angry at their Telescopes, that they could give no better Intelligence; for, said she, now I do plainly perceive, that your Glasses are false Informers, and instead of discovering the Truth, delude your Senses; Wherefore I Command you to break them, and let the Bird-men trust onely to their natural eyes, and examine Coelestial Objects by the motions of their own Sense and Reason.”

Cavendish was critical of the scientific community’s interest in developing and using new tools for data collection; she preferred internal reflection and unaided observation. The Empress criticizes tools like microscopes and telescopes as deceptive and declares them as incapable of discovering true knowledge. Instead, she argues, they should use their naked eyes because that is the ability given to their bodies by God.

“The Empress having thus declared her mind to the Ape-men, and given them better Instructions then perhaps they expected, not knowing that her Majesty had such great and able judgment in Natural Philosophy.”

The Empress consistently demonstrates the ability to not only participate in intellectual conversations, but also to teach others about their disciplines. Cavendish thus argues that women should be encouraged to participate in science and scholarship. Despite gendered expectations to the contrary, the Empress has great knowledge.

“Then came the Lice-men, and endeavoured to measure all things to a hairs-breadth, and weigh them to an Atom; but their weights would seldom agree, especially in the weighing of Air, which they found a task impossible to be done; at which the Empress began to be displeased, and told them, that there was neither Truth nor Justice in their Profession; and so dissolved their society.”

This passage satirizes the experiments of Robert Boyle and the Royal Society’s attempts to measure air. Cavendish, like the Empress, found this work lacking in purpose and truth—possibly again showing the knowledge gap between a self-taught and intellectually disparaged aspired woman scholar and men more readily accepted into the academic community. The Empress’s dissolution of this scientific society reflects Cavendish’s own desires to end the Royal Society’s elitist and sexist practices.

“one of the Parrot-men rose with great formality, and endeavoured to make an Eloquent Speech before her Majesty; but before he had half ended, his arguments and divisions being so many, that they caused a great confusion in his brain, he could not go forward, but was forced to retire backward, with great disgrace both to himself, and the whole society.”

Cavendish was critical of many types of philosophical oration that were popular in her time. The parrot-men are unable to create a logical and compelling argument and instead create division and disagreement. As Cavendish’s utopia is a united and harmonious world, rhetorical sophistry that works against unity must be excluded.

“Thus they argued, and intended to go on, but the Empress interrupted them: I have enough, said she, of your chopt Logick, and will hear no more of your Syllogisms; for it disorders my Reason, and puts my Brain on the rack; your formal argumentations are able to spoil all natural wit; and I'le have you to consider, that Art does not make Reason, but Reason makes Art; [...] your Art of Logick, which consists onely in contradicting each other, in making sophismes, and obscuring Truth, instead of clearing it.”

Syllogisms were a popular structure for philosophical arguments during Cavendish’s lifetime. The basic idea is to draw inferences or deductions from two statements either already proven or accepted to be true. However, Cavendish is critical of syllogism for being illogical, pointing out the error-prone nature of syllogisms that rely only on internal consistency (one example: all dogs are mammals, cats are mammals; therefore, dogs must be cats).

“Truly, said the Empress, I do believe that it is with Natural Philosophy, as it is with all other effects of Nature; for no particular knowledg can be perfect, by reason knowledg is dividable, as well as composable; nay, to speak properly, Nature her self cannot boast of any perfection, but God himself.”

Human knowledge of the natural world is contrasted with the complete and perfect knowledge held by God. Cavendish frequently returns to the imperfect nature of human knowledge and often advocates for introspective and reflective approaches to gaining knowledge—methods that rely on the inborn tools God endowed people with, in her religious view.

“she considered by her self the manner of their Religion, and finding it very defective, was troubled, that so wise and knowing a people should have no more knowledg of the Divine Truth; Wherefore she consulted with her own thoughts, whether it was possible to convert them all to her own Religion, and to that end she resolved to build Churches, and make also up a Congregation of Women, whereof she intended to be the head her self, and to instruct them in the several points of her Religion.”

The Empress’s plan explicitly connects politics and religion, as she will lead both the country and the church—exactly as the monarchs of England had done ever since Henry VIII declared himself Protector of the Anglican Faith after breaking away from the Pope and Catholicism. Because the Empress believes the perfect world is completely unified, only complete religious conversion is acceptable. Reflecting the religious debates of her age, Cavendish also considers the contributions of women in this religious revival.

“Paradise was not in the world she came from, but in that world she lived in at present; and that it was the very same place where she kept her Court.”

By connecting the Blazing World to the Biblical Eden, Cavendish positions her created world as a utopian ideal for the world to aspire to. Cavendish also continues to link religious symbols to political power.

“With that the Empress thank'd the Duchess, and embracing her Soul, told her she would take her Counsel: [...] truly their meeting did produce such an intimate friendship between them, that they became Platonick Lovers, although they were both Females.”

The Empress and Duchess’s friendship, which transcends the mundane and domestic even though they are women, is a key component of the text. Their intellectual discussions reflect Cavendish’s belief that women can contribute to academic scholarship.

“Truly said the Duchess to the Empress (for between dear friends there's no concealment, they being like several parts of one united body) my Melancholy proceeds from an extreme Ambition.”

Echoing the work's arguments about unity, the Duchess and Empress’s relationship allows them to function as if they were one being. In addition, the Duchess’s ambitions are a shocking break from gender conventions. Her disappointment at not being able to attain political power reflects Cavendish’s own frustrations.

“At last, when the Duchess saw that no patterns would do her any good in the framing of her World; she was resolved to make a World of her own Invention, and this World was composed of sensitive and rational self-moving Matter; indeed, it was composed onely of the rational, which is the subtilest and purest degree of Matter [...] this degree of Matter at the same point of time (for though the degrees are mixt, yet the several parts may move several ways at one time) did move to the Creation of the Imaginary World; which World after it was made, appear'd so curious and full of variety, so well order'd and wisely govern'd, that it cannot possibly be expressed by words, nor the delight and pleasure which the Duchess took in making this World-of-her-own.”

The Duchess's imaginary world is based on reason just as Cavendish’s The Blazing World is based upon her understanding of logic and science. Yet the creation of both these worlds also uses imagination. This blending of reason and imagination is a key aspect of Cavendish’s theory of truth and knowledge creation.

. “But one thing I forgot all this while, which is, That although thoughts are the natural language of Souls; yet by reason Souls cannot travel without Vehicles, they use such language as the nature and propriety of their Vehicles require, and the Vehicles of those two souls being made of the purest and finest sort of air, and of a human shape.”

This passage features a rare moment when Cavendish the author inserts herself into the text, not simply in the guise of the Duchess, but as the real person writing the work. She seeks to remind the reader of the nature of souls, as discussed earlier with the Empress’s advisors. A soul’s inability to travel without a vehicle is enables the Duchess and Empress to move—and Cavendish’s attention to clarifying this detail and commitment to providing plausible explanations for supernatural phenomena mark this work as part of the science fiction genre.

“The reason was, that there had been a long Civil Warr in that Kingdom [...] my dear Lord and Husband, said she, has lost by it half his Woods, besides many Houses, Land, and movable Goods; so that all the loss out of his particular Estate, did amount to above Half a Million of Pounds.”

The Duchess’s description of the Duke’s backstory matches William Cavendish’s own biography. By blurring the lines between fiction and reality, Cavendish suggests that the text can serve as a model for the real world.

“And then the Duke had three Souls in one Body; [...] But the Dukes Soul being wise, honest, witty, complaisant and noble, afforded such delight and pleasure to the Emperess's Soul by her conversation, that these two souls became enamoured of each other; which the Duchess's soul perceiving, grew jealous at first, but then considering that no Adultery could be committed amongst Platonick Lovers, and that Platonism, was Divine, as being derived from Divine Plato, cast forth of her mind that Idea of Jealousie.”

The goodness of the Duke’s soul illustrates Cavendish's deep love and respect for the real William Cavendish. In a moment of humor, this seeming opportunity for an extramarital sexual dalliance makes the Duchess remember that souls lack physical bodies, which means they cannot commit adultery. In her description of Plato as divine, Cavendish pokes fun at some of the philosophical thinkers of her day.

“Which sight, when her Country-men perceived at a distance, their hearts began to tremble; but coming something nearer, she left her Torches, and appeared onely in her Garments of Light, like an Angel, or some Deity, and all kneeled down before her, and worshipped her with all submission and reverence.”

The Empress is again misidentified as a goddess. To claim political power, the Empress plays into the image of herself as a divine being. Her use of fire stones and light underscore her purity and power.

“In the mean time, the General of all their Naval Forces sent to their Soveraign to acquaint him with their miraculous Delivery and Conquest, and with the Emperess’s design of making him the most powerful Monarch of all that World.”

The Empress’s plan to install the king of ESFI as absolute monarch contrasts sharply with his ineffectiveness in handling this crisis. Her ambitions are the driving force, not his. The Empress displays traits that are not traditionally associated with women.

“Thus the Empress did not onely save her Native Country, but made it the Absolute Monarchy of all that World.”

The Empress is positioned as a Christ figure within this political situation—she walks on water, glows with supernatural light, and offers her original country salvation from its enemies, which she pelts with fire from the sky. The Empress knows how to parlay image into actual power and never hesitates to do so.

“I endeavor, said she, to be as singular as I can; for it argues but a mean Nature to imitate others.”

The Duchess’s desire for originality echoes Cavendish’s desire to be Margret the First, as noted in the author’s note. Their ambition, then, is to create something new and not rehash tradition and convention.