The Blazing World
Written by Margaret Cavendish
Narrated by Ava Teery
3/5
()
About this audiobook
The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish is, all at once, a satire, a treatise on natural philosophy, a work of proto-science fiction, and a defiant venture into a scientific world where women were not usually allowed. It tells the tale of a young Lady who is kidnapped by a man that tries to sail away with her. Through divine interference, however, the ship is tossed into a storm and everyone but the Lady perishes. Blown up to the North Pole, she inadvertently passes into to another world, the Blazing World, where she is almost immediately made supreme ruler. As the Lady begins to exercise her will, Cavendish lays out her own Utopia and discusses a wide range of scientific, political, social, and religious topics. But when a war breaks out in her home world, what will the Lady do with all power of the Blazing World behind her?
Margaret Cavendish
Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) was an English philosopher, poet, playwright, and scientist. Born Mary Lucas, she was the youngest of eight children in a wealthy aristocratic family. With access to libraries and tutors, she showed intellectual promise and began writing at a young age, but felt pressure to pursue a more traditional feminine lifestyle. As a young woman, she found employment as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Henrietta Maria, accompanying her into exile in France during the English Civil War. Although she struggled to acclimate to high society, she remained in her role for several years until marrying William Cavendish, the Marquess of Newcastle. With her husband’s support, Cavendish embarked on a career in literature, publishing broadly in the last decades of her life. Her major works include Poems and Fancies (1653), A True Relation of my Birth, Breeding, and Life (1856), Plays (1662), and Plays, Never Before Printed (1668), the latter of which includes her beloved comedy The Convent of Pleasure. The Blazing World (1666), a utopian novel, is considered a landmark work of science fiction and has earned praise from modern feminist scholars for its pioneering depiction of gender and sexuality. In 1667, Cavendish broke new ground as the first woman to attend a meeting of the Royal Society of London, where she engaged with such philosophers as Thomas Hobbes, Robert Boyle, and René Descartes. A vitalist, she rejected Aristotelianism and published six books on natural philosophy in her lifetime, including Observations upon Experimental Philosophy (1666). Largely derided by such contemporaries as Samuel Pepys and Dorothy Osborne, Cavendish has since been recognized as a groundbreaking figure in the history of English literature.
Related to The Blazing World
Related audiobooks
Herland (Premium) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Man Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Blazing World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Man, Volume 1 (Unabridged) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Man, Volume 3 (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Herland Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Voyage to Arcturus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHerland: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Machine Stops Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Man, Volume 2 (Unabridged) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Modern Utopia (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsB. J. Harrison Reads The Machine Stops Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Changing Planes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Metropolis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Machine Stops: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Castle of Otranto Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Paradise Lost Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Machine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Island of Dr. Moreau Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Men Like Gods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Le Morte D'Arthur Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wuthering Heights Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The King of Elfland's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Woman On the Edge of Time Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Star Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Island of Doctor Moreau Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Always Coming Home: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Science Fiction For You
The Three-Body Problem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Omens: A Full Cast Production Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man in the High Castle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Parable of the Sower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good Omens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kindred Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/52001: A Space Odyssey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Left Hand of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Systems Red Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Rising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dune Messiah: Book Two in the Dune Chronicles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose The Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Golden Son Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Live in Concert Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Clockwork Orange Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Deep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ministry of Time: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dune: House Atreides Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dune Audio Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Morning Star Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Red Rising (1 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation]: Red Rising 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How High We Go in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Blazing World
7 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Well read and performed. The book itself was a pleasant surprise. Recommend it for every sience and philosophy enthusiast.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The narration is 5 stars, the story was about 3 for me