Duchess of Newcastle by Virginia Woolf

            Duchess of Newcastle

                                    - Virginia Woolf

Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) was a royalist, philosopher, duchess, and a writer. She was a poet, essayist and a pioneer of science fiction. She published her works under her original name, which was rarity during her period.Virginia Woolf described her as “a giant cucumber…noble and Quixotic and high-spirited, as well as crack-brained and bird-witted.” Cavendish’s enemies called her “Mad Meg.” “I do not like her at all,” said Samuel Pepys. 

Margaret Lucas was born at St. John’s Abbey. She is the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Lucas. Among the eight children of Thomas, Margaret is the youngest one. She belonged to a royal family. She lost her father at the age of two. She was educated at home. She learned the art of dance, music, and needlework. She had an interest in writing at her young age. 

The civil war broke out in England during the year 1640. The members of Margaret's family were devoted Royalists. Margaret Lucas fled to Oxford. She became a maid-of-honour to Queen Henrietta Maria. Later the royalist forces were defeated at Marston Moor in 1644 which led the Queen and her court to flee as exile to France. This flight was painful for Margaret as it was her first total separation from her family.

In France Margaret met William Cavendish, the first Duke of Newcastle, and the couple married in 1645.  After marriage Margaret received her informal education in science and philosophy. She was taught by her husband and her brother Sir Charles Cavendish. 

Margaaret Cavendish returned to England, in the year 1651. She wrote her first book, a collection of poems entitled Poems and Fancies. Many readers praised her originality and some people criticized her spelling, grammar, and writing style.  Margaret was not ready to mend her spelling or grammar.

 She was the first woman in England who wrote mainly for publication. She gave  bold feminist statements: "Women live like bats or owls, labour like beasts, and die like worms". She published twenty-two works during her lifetime. Virginia Woolf, says about Cavendish that "though her philosophies  are futile, and her plays intolerable, and her verses mainly dull, the vast bulk of the Duchess is leavened by a vein of authentic fire". Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle died suddenly on 15 December 1673 at the age of fifty.