ABSTRACT
MARGARET Cavendish was born into a transitional age w hen old assum ptions w ere challenged and new certainties had not been found. In her nonfiction, she repeatedly confesses to w om en's inherent limitations, apparently accepting a patriarchal Toryism as sanctioned by natu re .1 However, she also reveals an anti traditionalist aspiration: to em ulate men, as a philosopher and writer; to have a society in w hich wom en m ay achieve success and power. Hence, in her fictional w orks she creates escapist rom ance visions of heroic female scholars and rulers. H er ideological position appears contradictory, as is suggested in The Blazing World by her am biguous use of allegorico-romance form. On the one hand, this is a tale of virtue rew arded w ithin the param eters of a providential aristocratic ideol ogy.2 On the other hand, the narrative may also be read as a feminine
458 Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing W orld
subversion of romance conquest, figuring a progressive wom an who makes a masculine utopia her own. Cavendish's m otive may have been to create a new order in w hich w om en's true potential is valued .3 Inter pretation is further complicated, however, by the fact that critics have doubted her feminist solidarity and stressed instead her craving for personal fame and singularity .4 Such an approach makes her appear as a seeker of personal pow er and glory as ends in themselves.
