During this process I was a little frustrated because I have long nails so it was harder to hold the feather and write with it otherwise I was very focused
I like the focus here on the specific physicality of holding a pen. It makes me wonder if this is something that would make quill writing more gendered (though I'm not sure whether women grew their nails in this period)
From this project I came to the conclusion that I’m pretty useless and that my older brother is a life saver.
It would be interesting to think about this in relation to how 17c/18c quills were made. Do you think they were professionally prepared, or people made their own?
I didn’t know exactly how to get the ink out of the pen
Why did you decide on this method for the ink?
more fancier
How so? What particular qualities made them, in your perspective, "fancy"?
I used ink from a pen and I popped it , I cut the feather diagonally at the tip and rip the hairs up till the middle like in the video.
I wish you had documented this in more detail and discussed the process of actually making the quill
it shows that they could not erase , it was ink and a feather , they would have to either make multiple drafts or get it right the first time which shows that they were very tolerant
I'm not sure "tolerant" is the appropriate word here, but you're right about drafting. For future formal blogs, I want to see you pay more attention to sentence structure--you could have broken this idea down into a few sentences to make it more detailed and clear.
I felt accomplished, like an 1800’s nerd or something.
A good start, but keep in mind that the period we're studying is 1660s-1780s. The fountain pen was invented in the early 1800s.
As soon as the Duchess's Speech was ended, Folly and Rashness started up
These kinds of allegorical trials were a popular feature of late sixteenth-century Utopias.
Noble Friends, We are met here to hear a Cause pleaded concerning the difference between the Duke of Newcastle, and my self
Think about the ways in which the text wavers between fantasy and reality. What is Cavendish trying to accomplish by writing this? Is this the best genre/medium to do so?
The Empress's Soul perceiving this, did the like: And then the Duke had three Souls in one Body;
Some religious as well as sexual connotations here
The reason was, that there had been a long Civil Warr in that Kingdom, in which most of the best Timber-trees and Principal Palaces were ruined and destroyed; and my dear Lord and Husband, said she, has lost by it half his Woods, besides many Houses, Land, and movable Goods; so that all the loss out of his particular Estate, did amount to above Half a Million of Pounds.
Cavendish is greatly exaggerating here--think about the rhetorical strategy of embedding this history into her narrative.
It was one of the Theatres where Comedies and Tragedies were acted.
Cavendish was a great patron of the theater, and wrote some plays herself. The Convent of Pleasure is one play where she again explores the ideas of female intellectualism seen here.
there you shall see as powerful a Monarch as the Grand Signior
i.e. Charles II
and lest the Emperor, or any of his subjects should know of her travel
Notice the absence of the Emperor throughout the work. He only appears here as an impediment to the Empress's plans.
At last, when the Duchess saw that no patterns would do her any good in the framing of her World; she was resolved to make a World of her own Invention
If you could make your own world, what would it be?
Pythagoras's Doctrine;
these references help showcase Cavendish's vast education and knowledge of Philosophy.
Thales
But we wonder, proceeded the Spirits, that you desire to be Empress of a Terrestrial World, when as you can create your self a Cœlestial World if you please. What, said the Empress, can any Mortal be a Creator? Yes, answered the Spirits; for every human Creature can create an Immaterial World fully inhabited by Immaterial Creatures, and populous of Immaterial subjects, such as we are, and all this within the compass of the head or scull; nay, not onely so, but he may create a World of what fashion and Government he will, and give the Creatures thereof such motions, figures, forms, colours, perceptions, &c. as he pleases, and make Whirl-pools, Lights, Pressures, and Reactions, &c. as he thinks best; nay, he may make a World full of Veins, Muscles, and Nerves, and all these to move by one jolt or stroke: also he may alter that World as often as he pleases, or change it from a Natural World, to an Artificial; he may make a World of Ideas, a World of Atoms, a World of Lights, or whatsoever his Fancy leads him to.
This about how this passage relates to Cavendish's epistle to the reader.
Then the Empress asked, Whether it was not possible that her dearest friend the Duchess of Newcastle, might be Empress of one of them? Although there be numerous, nay, infinite Worlds, answered the Spirits, yet none is without Government. But is none of these Worlds so weak, said she, that it may be surprized or conquered?
What do you make of this passage, particularly as it mirrors the expansion of the British Empire?
truly their meeting did produce such an intimate friendship between them, that they became Platonick Lovers, although they were both Femals.
What do you make of this, as far as Cavendish's views of female friendship and soul mates?
the Spirit is ignorant of my hand-writing
The Duchess is self-effacing, whereas the Empress is confident.
But, said they, there's a Lady, the Duchess of Newcastle; which although she is not one of the most learned, eloquent, witty and ingenious, yet she is a plain and rational Writer; for the principle of her Writings, is Sense and Reason, and she will without question, be ready to do you all the service she can.
Cavendish writes herself into the narrative. Is she both the Empress and her fictional Duchess?
Whether Souls did chuse Bodies? They answered, That Platonicks believed, the Souls of Lovers lived in the Bodies of their Beloved, but surely, said they, if there be a multitude of Souls in a World of Matter, they cannot miss Bodies; for as soon as a Soul is parted from one Body, it enters into another; and Souls having no motion of themselves, must of necessity be clothed or imbodied with the next parts of Matter. If this be so, replied the Empress, then I pray inform me, Whether all matter be soulified?
How do these conversations match up with the scientific inquiry in the earlier sections?
They answered, That Paradise was not in the world she came from, but in that world she lived in at present; and that it was the very same place where she kept her Court, and where her Palace stood, in the midst of the Imperial City.
The narrator reveals that the Empress is in Paradise as described by the Christian Bible.
Ben. Johnson
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ben-Jonson-English-writer
Dr. Dee
since she had a great desire to know the condition of the World she came from, her request to the Spirits was, To give her some Information thereof, especially of those parts of the World where she was born, bred, and educated
This world has visible spirits who can travel between worlds.
And thus the Empress, by Art, and her own Ingenuity, did not onely convert the Blazing-World to her own Religion, but kept them in a constant belief, without inforcement or blood-shed; for she knew well, that belief was a thing not to be forced or pressed upon the people, but to be instilled into their minds by gentle perswasions; and after this manner she encouraged them also in all other duties and employments: for Fear, though it makes people obey, yet does it not last so long, nor is it so sure a means to keep them to their duties, as Love.
The narrative idealizes a "benevolent conversion" as an ideal scenario. This reflects on England's own violent past but builds this upon a Colonialist lens.
Wherefore she consulted with her own thoughts, whether it was possible to convert them all to her own Religion
Think how this reflects on the voyages into the "New World." Can we tell how Cavendish feels about this?
Syllogistical Arguments
these are the rhetoricians of the group. What do you interpret from their arguments?
There is so much to learn in your Art, said she, that I can neither spare time from other affairs to busie my self in your profession; nor, if I could, do I think I should ever be able to understand your Imaginary points, lines and figures, because they are Non-beings.
Another opportunity to think about what is valued and devalued as research and science in this world.
Creatures as are called Monsters
What do you think she means by "monsters"?
Philosophers-stone
No death in this world...at least for the "Imperial Race"
humors of several colours
the Empress being so much tired that she was not able to hear them any longer, imposed a general silenc
Note what particularities of science seem to interest and bore the Empress.
your Majesty may firmly believe, that there is no Body without colour, nor no Colour without body; for colour, figure, place, magnitude, and body, are all but one thing, without any separation or abstraction from each other.
Is this compatible with modern science?
Whether Gold could not be made by Art? They answered, That they could not certainly tell her Majesty, but if it was possible to be done, they thought Tin, Lead, Brass, Iron and Silver, to be the fittest Metals for such an Artificial Transmutation
Alchemy was a popular science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Many still believed that certain metals could be turned to gold.
that all Animal Creatures within the Seas and other waters, had blood?
Forensic medicine is still advancing in this period, when British doctors are first starting to perform formal autopsies
After they had thus argued, the Empress began to grow angry at their Telescopes, that they could give no better Intelligence; for, said she, now I do plainly perceive, that your Glasses are false Informers, and instead of discovering the Truth, delude your Senses; Wherefore I Command you to break them, and let the Bird-men trust onely to their natural eyes, and examine Cœlestial Objects by the motions of their own Sense and Reason.
Another place where we parallel the Empress and Cavendish. The distrust of technology and novelty will be a recurring theme
Lastly, the Empress asked the Bird-men of the nature of Thunder and Lightning?
What is the purpose of these inquiries, both for the narrative and for Cavendish's own announced purposes in the dedication? If you've read Paradise Lost, think about how similar conversations happen in that narrative, and why.
Thus they argued concerning the heat and light of the Sun; but, which is remarkable, none did say, that the Sun was a Globous fluid body, and had a swift Circular motion; but all agreed, It was fixt and firm like a Center, and therefore they generally called it the Sun-stone
This discussion mirrors the ones had at the Royal Society. Margaret Cavendish became the first woman to visit the Royal Society in May 1667. Samuel Pepys, famous for his diaries detailing the period, said her she were a ‘dress so antic’ and a ‘deportment so unordinary, that I do not like her at all’. Several men protested her visit, and the Society kept women from attending again for a few centuries. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/nov/21/royal-society-lost-women-scientists
But, said she, Women and Children have no Employment in Church or State. 'Tis true, answer'd they; but, although they are not admitted to publick Employments
Think about Cavendish's choices--when does she mirror the known world, and when does she make changes? What does this say about her world view?
That as it was natural for one Body to have but one Head, so it was also natural for a Politick body to have but one Governor; and that a Common-wealth, which had many Governors was like a Monster with many Heads.
Does this remind you of the different Enlightenment thinkers we learned about in the video for Week 2?
At which the Emperor rejoycing, made her his Wife, and gave her an absolute power to rule and govern all that World as she pleased. But her subjects, who could hardly be perswaded to believe her mortal, tender'd her all the Veneration and Worship due to a Deity.
Think about how this narrative presents Englishness, particularly how it mimics narratives about the New World.
.
Why is this world built on gemstones, do you think?
artificially
i.e. with artifice; artfully
World: nor no more but one Emperor, to whom they all submitted with the greatest duty and obedience, which made them live in a continued Peace and Happiness; not acquainted with Foreign Wars or Home-bred Insurrections
Think how this compares to Cavendish's experience of the world, and our own, as well.
finding those sorts of men civil and diligent attendants to her
Why are these people so "civil and diligent attendants"? Is this problematic?
Experimental Philosophers
i.e. scientists. How does Cavendish contrast the ways these inhabitants navigate (literally and figuratively) their world with the ways the inhabitants of the Earth do?
strange Creatures, in shape like Bears, only they went upright as men
As you read, think about the ways in which this world represents or subverts humans (as opposed to animals)
hitherto they had onely crost Rivers, but now they could not avoid the open Seas any longer
Why do you think there's so much water in this world?
another World
A fun exercise: try to draw this meeting of the two worlds.
Merchant travelling into a foreign Country
Why does the narrative begin this way? What does it say about this world?
And of the Gold, I should desire only so much as might suffice to repair my Noble Lord and Husband's Losses
William Cavendish was banished from England during the Civil War (he and Margaret were Royalists) and had his land confiscated. Think about whether this work reflects Margaret Cavendish's political leanings.
Observations upon Experimental Philosophy
Think about how the two works connect together, both in terms of topic and in terms of Cavendish's ideas about the word
no better than Egyptian Deities
like above with the reference to the Indies and below, in reference to slaves, we get a clear picture of a British identity that develops more and more by Othering non-European bodies
as all the Treasures of the Indies are not able to purchase
see note to page 149
Doubtless 'twas well consider'd of him, who wou'd not trust the breeding of his Son to a Slave, because nothing great or excellent could be expected from a person of that condition
Astell's references reflect the callous colonialism of this period, at the hight of the so-called British "empire."
muddy Pleasures of sensual Delights
"sensual" here means "of the senses" = earthly or base pleasures that are not of the spiritual kind.
It has a spe∣cial force to dilate our hearts, to deliver them from that vi∣cious selfishness and the rest of those sordid passions, which express a narrow illiberal temper, and are of such per∣nitious consequence to man∣kind.
What "sordid pleasures" might Astell be referring to, here?
No: Ev'ry act of our Religious Votary shall be voluntary and free, and no other tye but the Pleasure, the Glory and Ad∣vantage of this blessed Re∣tirement, to confine her to it
England has up to now had a history of requiring citizens to publicly proclaim their faith (Protestant or Catholic, depending on the monarch), so Astell imagines a freer society here, perhaps considering the new place of government after the Reformation.
Money
take a look at all the times "money" is mentioned in this text and how this might give us a glimpse of the target audience.
here is a sort of Learning indeed which is worse than the greatest Igno∣rance: A woman may study Plays and Romances all her days, & be a great deal more knowing, but never a jot the wiser. Such a Knowledge as this serves only to instruct and put her forward in the practice of the greatest Fol∣lies;
But there's a bad side of learning! Novels and Plays (i.e. entertainment) rot the brain. Can you think of similar arguments that are made today? Why would Astell be against reading of this sort?
Being the Soul was created for the contemplation of Truth, as well as for the fruition of Good, is it not as cruel and unjust to preclude Women from the knowledge of the one, as well as from the en∣joyment of the other?
Here Astell refers to arguments quoting the Bible that suggested women were not meant to be educated (e.g. taught to read)
It shall not so cut you off from the world, as to hinder you from bettering and improv∣ing it; but rather qualify you to do it the greatest Good, and be a Seminary to stock the Kingdom with pious and prudent Ladies
This statement qualifies the one marked above. Why would Astell wait so many paragraphs to explain this? Think about how this text is organized, and what it suggests about her readers.
You are therefore Ladies, invited into a place, where you shall suffer no other con∣finement, but to be kept out of the road of sin: You shall not be depriv'd of your grandeur, but only exchange the vain Pomps and Pagean∣try of the world, empty Ti∣tles and Forms of State, for the true and solid Greatness of being able to dispise them. You will only quit the Chat of insignificant people, for an ingenious Conversation; the froth of flashy wit for real wisdom; idle tales for instruc¦tive discourses.
Astell suggests that women need a "rehab" from public society in order to gain power. Think about ways in which similar arguments are made today.
And now having discove∣red the Disease and its cause, 'tis proper to apply a Reme∣dy; single Medicines are too weak to cure such compli∣cated Distempers, they re∣quire a full Dispensatory
Astell transitions from identifying the problem to proposing a solution.
Doubtless a truly Christian Life requires a clear Understanding, as well as regular Affections, that both together may move the Will to a direct choice of Good, and a sted∣fast adherence to it. For tho the heart may be honest, it is but by chance that the Will is right, if the Under∣standing be ignorant and Cloudy.
Note here a rhetoric that combines of knowledge and religious faith, much like was discussed in the reading from the Broadview anthology.
By an habitual inadvertency we render our selves incapable of any serious & improving thought, till our minds themselves become as light and frothy as those things they are conversant about.
To Astell, the mind is something that can atrophy, to the point where we can train ourselves to be ignorant and impervious to knowledge. Do we think that's true?
Will she who has a jot of discernment think to satisfy her greedy desire of Plea∣sure, with those promising nothings that have again & again deluded her? Or, will she to obtain such Bubbles, run the risque of forfeiting Joys, infinitely satisfying and eternal? In sum, did not ignorance impose on us, we would never lavish out the greatest part of our Time and Care, on the decoration of a Tenement, in which our Lease is so very short, and which for all our indust∣ry, may lose it's Beauty e're that Lease be out, and in the mean while neglect a Page 44 more glorious and durable Mansion! We wou'd never be so curious of the House, and so careless of the Inha∣bitant, whose beauty is ca∣pable of great improvement, and will endure for ever without diminution or de∣cay!
The house analogy here refers to the absurdity of caring of physical beauty over one's mind (and soul). It also strangely maintains women's interests within the realm of the domestic.
pro∣fane noisy Nonsense of men, whose Fore-heads are better than their Brains to pass un∣der that Character
How do you think men reacted to this essay? Do you think they read it at all?
Act V
Prof. Silva's test annotation.
What Makes an Interpretq,{ia.n Acceptable?
This is my annotation. It's something really clever!
"Never ... is the word 'forest' used by Blake in any context in which it does not refer to the natural, 'fallen' world" (p·48)
Annotate the text here. Your annotation should either: a) explain the significance of the section or provide context needed to fully understand it (avoid simply summarizing or paraphrasing. b) provide a short summary if this is a reference to a specific author, place, or text c) connect this point to the theory we're discussing in class or other relevant readings from previous classes.
semester
test #2