1. Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1674), was a radical and contradictory author who earned the nickname "Mad Madge" because of her eccentricity of dress and behavior. Known as the Crazy Duchess, Margaret Cavendish attempted to incorporate her scientific speculations with metaphysical poetry and her philosophical meditation with fanciful imagination. Her works, Poems and Fancies, Nature's Pictures Drawn by Fancie's Pencil, Plays Written by Lady Marchioness of Newcastle,, Sociable Letters, and The Blazing World shocked her contemporaries. Dorothy Osborne, a letter-writer, said of Cavendish, "the poor woman is a little distracted, she could never have been so ridiculous else as to venture at writing books and in verse too." (Gilbert 72). Samuel Pepys called her a"mad, conceited, and ridiculous woman." while John Evelyn thought her a "mighty pretender to learning" ("The Seventeenth Century"). Undaunted by such criticism, the Duchess claimed , "I endeavour to be as singular as I can; for it argues but a mean nature to imitate others." (Emory Women Writers Resource Project). Lacking a classical or scholarly education and speaking no foreign language, Margaret Cavendish sought to develop her scientific interests. A Royalist, she lived in exile in Paris during the Civil War. There she married William Cavendish, a supportive husband who had some interest in math and science. In Paris she became part of an intellectual scientific movement called atomism. Although Margaret Cavendish produced no original science, she popularized the field and corresponded with some of the most influential natural philosophers. The Royal Society entertained her in 1667, but she was never invited to become a member. Her interest in science included medicine, and she treated herself. Her self-doctoring may have led to her sudden death at fifty.

2. The political climate of the Civil War had a distinct but indirect effect on feminists like Margaret Cavendish. Paradoxically, the Revolutionary writers discouraged and encouraged feminist thought. Most Leftist writers were Puritans, common lawyers Levellers, Sectarians, or members of communal groups, but none were concerned about women. In their concern about soldiers, small landowners, freemen, Sectarians, and Puritans, they overlooked the plight of women.(Smith 9-10). Most feminists were Royalists and Anglican, ( 9-10), but their consciousness was awakened by the work of the Revolutionary Tories who encouraged readers to think in terms of right and wrong and of desirable social change. Although they almost never discussed the plight of women, they established an atmosphere of questioning that led a few women to begin to think about sexual equality.

3. Feminist issues for upper class women rested on two issues. First they were losing power because they were no longer expected to function on family estates and were therefor encouraged to become socialites. Second, they experienced more difficulty in receiving a good marriage settlement because there were more suitable marriageable women than previously. Feminist issues for common women related to their professional lives. With the increased professionalism in medicine, there was less demand for midwives and medical practitioners with the result that these women experienced increasing difficulty in earning a fair salary. Similarly, the decline of women's status in guilds lessened women's traditional role as partners to their husbands in family enterprises.

4. Feminists of the period argued that women's secondary position to her husband was not natural or sacred and that women must realize their own worth and demand that society meet their needs and interests and encourage them to use their minds. By 1700 feminist poets expressed personal anger and frustration at the attitudes of men and the lack of change for women.

5. When asked to collect a book of orations, Margaret Cavendish feared that her lack of rhetorical training and formal education would result in inferior work that would disappoint her reader. She asserted that the training of young women in such arts as dancing, singing, and sewing trained the body but left the mind undisciplined and incapable of honor and civility.

6. Student examination of Female Orations (See document 5)

• In I the oratoress attacks men for cruelty and for denying women freedom. She uses men as a model for what women want: freed, happiness, and fame. Students should consider the import of the simile in the last line.
• In II the speaker agrees with the previous oratoress but challenges women to find a remedy. However, she proposes none herself.
• In III the speaker attacks the previous two for their attacks against men. She defends men as admirers, lovers, protectors, and providers. This speaker says that the author of women's misfortune is Nature, who created women as inferior beings. To her, women's only redeemable act is childbearing.
• In IV the speaker says that if women are witless and weak, it is because of lack of exercise and for want of conversation. She encourages women to imitate men in sports and education and argues that neither women nor men know the untapped powers of women. In closing, the speaker says that women will improve by becoming more masculine.
• In V the oratoress asserts that such masculine behavior in women is unnatural. She supports the status quo by saying that a chaste, pious, quiet woman earns praise from both men and God.
• In VI the speaker says that women are commanded to imitate the gods so imitation of mortal men should not be difficult. She debases women when she says that masculine women should be praised for striving to improve while effeminate men should be disparaged for sinking to imperfection.
• In VII the speaker says that women are better than men because Nature has given them alluring gifts that enslave men and cause them to adore and worship women.
• Questions for discussion

1. What views do the speakers express?
2. What is the feminist/misogynistic origin of these views?
3. What does Margaret Cavendish think of women?
4. Why does Cavendish present such a contradictory work?
5. What is the effect of the orations?

Student activity: Write Part VIII in which you portray the status and/or nature of women.