The Blazing World and Other Writings

Margaret Cavendish, Lisa Walters (University of Queensland)

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English

Oxford University Press
06 November 2025

Literature, Poetry & Criticism; Poetry; Poetry by individual poets; Plays & playscripts; Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800; Classic fiction (pre c 1945)

Series: Oxford World's Classics

'I had rather die in the adventure of noble achievements, than live in obscure and sluggish security.'One of the most diverse, prolific, and maverick intellectuals of her time, Margaret Cavendish is known for critiquing a wide range of early modern cultural and philosophical beliefs. While she was the first British woman to publish several philosophical treatises, she was also profoundly interested in literature and writing in nearly every available genre; indeed, with her wide-ranging, complex, and often unorthodox ideas, she was a pioneer of what today would be referred to as science fiction.

In this edition Lisa Walters brings together well-known and popular works such as The Blazing World, alongside lesser-known poems and prose pieces, like The Ambitious Traitor and The Unnatural Tragedy. The introduction discusses the wide-ranging concepts that appear in the writings, from gender and cross-dressing, to science and the nature of the universe, and provides a fresh insight on Cavendish's proclivity for literary experimentation and innovation.

By: Margaret Cavendish
Edited by: Lisa Walters (University of Queensland)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 195mm, Width: 130mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 323g
ISBN: 9780192862907
ISBN 10: 0192862901
Series: Oxford World's Classics
Pages: 464
Publication Date: 06 November 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Lisa Walters is Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland. She is the author of Margaret Cavendish: Gender, Science and Politics (2014) and co-editor of Margaret Cavendish: An Interdisciplinary Perspective (2022). Dr Walters is also one of the joint editors of the Restoration section of the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Early Modern Women's Writing.