ABSTRACT
This final chapter focusing on Imaginary utopian subjectivity, Margaret Cavendish’s Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World, depicts a woman who accidentally finds herself in a fantastical society inhabited by half-man, half-animal creatures who immediately crown her Emperor upon her arrival. The Empress immediately challenges scientific laws and the status quo, and despite her attacks on science, the native inhabitants of the Blazing World frequently speak of the Empress as a messiah. This chapter focuses on the man-beast characters to argue that they complement the Empress’s narcissistic, Imaginary challenge to scientific advances. The Empress ultimately chooses to retreat into her own mind, narcissistically turning her back on the responsibilities she assumed by accepting the position of Empress.
