MARGARET CAVENDISH AN UNUSUAL 17 TH CENTURY WOMAN

A REMARKABLE BUT TYPICAL ARISTOCRATIC LIFE Born a Lucas in 1623 Her father dies when Margaret was two leaving her mother in charge of eight children and a vast estate Royalist and Maid of Honour to Queen Henrietta Maria Exiled to Paris with royal family in 1648 Married William Cavendish, Marquis of Newcastle, 30 years her senior, while in Paris

LIFE IN EXILE William Cavendish had been northern commander for Charles I Man of letters and a famous horseman After the Declaration of the Commonwealth in 1649 Cavendish is formally banished and his lands are confiscated Family moves to Antwerp until Restoration

IDIOSYNCHRATIC HABITS Blended male and female dress Dabbled in Math and Science, more credibly Math Wrote extensively and becomes best remembered for her mixed genres an novels Gives women Characters stereotypically male roles

TAKE AWAY Still vested in the chivalric code showing men as heroes and women as seductress The outrage was that she emphasized the sexuality and the intellectual capability Her husband gave her access as a wealthy noble and a man of science and letters He loved and protected her She created a safe place in literature to challenge gender roles. Notable The Contract and Assaulted and Pursued Chastity