Description: Margaret Cavendish's prolific and wide-ranging contributions to seventeenth-century intellectual culture are impossible to contain within the discrete confines of modern academic disciplines. Paying attention to the innovative uses of genre through which she enhanced and complicated her writings both within literature and beyond, this collection addresses her oeuvre and offers the most comprehensive and multidisciplinary resource on Cavendish's works to date. The astonishing breadth of her varied intellectual achievements is reflected through elegantly arranged sections on History of Science, Philosophy, Literature, Politics and Reception, and New Directions, together with an Afterword by award-winning novelist Siri Hustvedt. The first book to cover nearly all of Cavendish's major works in a single volume, this collection brings together a variety of expert perspectives to illuminate the remarkable ideas and achievements of one of the most fascinating and prolific figures of the early modern period.
Brief description: Lisa Walters is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Ghent. Her research interests include the intersections between early modern literature, the history of science, philosophy and gender studies. She has published articles on Margaret Cavendish and Shakespeare in journals including Early Modern Literary Studies and Women's Writing. She is also President of the International Margaret Cavendish Society.
Review Quotes: 'This new collection expertly gathers the work of a variety of scholars from diverse disciplines and connects the many threads that bring us closer to understanding the value of reading Margaret Cavendish from many perspectives at once.' Delilah Bermudez Brataas, Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal