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Curated by: Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry (237 videos)
How does Margaret Cavendish’s The Blazing World use fantasy as a philosophical method to critique early modern science and to re-enchant a disenchanted world? Cavendish's The Blazing World (1666) is one of the earliest works of science fiction and a blend of philosophy, romance, fantasy, and visionary literature. This lecture covers Cavendish’s imagination, her critique of the Royal Society, and her challenge to 17th-century empiricism. Lecture Question: 0:00-2:23 Her Life and World: 2:23-6:30 Romancical World-Building: 6:30-21:04 Philosophical Critique: 21:04-31:21 Fantastic Imagination: 31:21-40:42 Thumbnail: Pieter van Schuppen after Diepenbeeck. Portrait of Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle. 1800, Wikimedia Commons.