Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623–73,) née Lucas, was an English poet, playwright, natural philosopher, biographer, feminist utopianist, and eccentric.
Born in Colchester, Essex, Cavendish was the daughter of soldier Sir Thomas Lucas and the second wife of William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, whom she met in Paris during his exile. Cavendish’s first volume of verse, Poems, and Fancies (1653,) displays her inquisitiveness in chemistry and natural philosophy. It was followed by many other works, including plays, letters, and an affectionate, vivid, and informal biography of her husband (1667.)
Cavendish was a serious natural philosopher and published her Observations upon Experimental Philosophy (1666) and The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World (1668.) She became the first woman to attend meetings at the Royal Society.
Cavendish’s autobiography, A True Relation of My Birth, Breeding, and Life (1656,) was appended to her fiction collection, Nature’s Pictures (1656.) Her other works include Orations (1662,) Sociable Letters (1664,) and Philosophical Letters (1664.) She also wrote many plays, collected in two volumes (1662 and 1668,) though never performed during her lifetime.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Margaret Lucas Cavendish
For disorder obstructs: besides, it doth disgust life, distract the appetities, and yield no true relish to the senses.
—Margaret Lucas Cavendish
Topics: Disorder
Indeed I had not much wit, yet I was not an idiot – my wit was according to my years.
—Margaret Lucas Cavendish
Topics: Wit
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