Emily Cho
Dr. L. Ritchie
Sean Burgess (T.A.)
ENGL 110 J
November 21, 2001
Utopian Bliss in Margaret Cavendish’s “The Description of a
New World, Called the Blazing World” and Sir Thomas More’s Utopia
The so-called Utopia – the quasi-perfect society – flourishes
in Margaret Cavendish’s “The Description of a New World, Called a Blazing
World” and Sir Thomas More’s Utopia.
While the former is a dreamlike account of fantasy rule and the latter a
pseudo-realistic travelogue, both works paint a picture of worlds that are not
so perfect after all. These
imperfections glitter like false gemstones in the paths of these Utopians’
religious beliefs, political systems, and philosophical viewpoints.
Religion and spirituality reach into
the depths of the human psyche and strongly influence a nation’s way of
life. In Margaret Cavendish’s “Blazing
World”, the Emperor and the inhabitants of the Blazing World worship Margaret,
who renamed herself Margaret the First.
Highly revered as a deity by the people, Margaret is surprised to
discover that females do not have a high place in the religious fabric of the
Blazing World. Women are barred from
religious assemblies, because it is “promiscuous” for men and women to be
together during religious worship, so women must remain at home to worship in
the privacy of their rooms (Cavendish 1767).
Priests and governors are made eunuchs to safeguard them from
women and children who, according to Margaret’s advisors, make too much
disturbances in the church and in the state.
In Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, women priests are highly
regarded. However, churches here are
also segregated – the men sit on one side and while the women sit on the other.
Aside from thinking that the peoples of the Blazing World
are segregated as Jews, Turks, or Christians because women are not allowed in
public worship, Margaret also mistakes the citizens as having different
religions, because the different species of beings in this world all attend
different churches (Cavendish 1767). In
More’s Utopia, everyone does indeed worship different gods, yet they
must all believe in one single eternal power.
This allows Hythloday the narrator and his comrades to convert some of
the Utopians into Christians, for the citizens readily accept the one-god
notion and the practice of sharing communal goods (More 517). No one is condemned due to his or her
religious beliefs in Utopia. A fanatic
who begins condemning other religions is tried on a charge, “not of despising
their religion, but of creating a public disorder” and is sent into exile (More
518). Does this reflect a society with
utopian religious ideals? In Utopia, there are two sects of religious
people – the ascetic sect whose members do not marry or eat meat, and the sect
that allows its members to marry and eat meat. The Utopians regard the second
as more sensible, but the first holier.
They believe that “anyone [who] chose celibacy over marriage and a hard
life over a comfortable one on grounds of reason alone” is insane; but “as
these men say they are motivated by religion, the Utopians respect and revere
them” (More 520). Truly, religion
shapes a nation’s identity and beliefs, and in the cases of the Blazing World
and Utopia, some aspects of their religion mars their perfect societies.
Closely linked to religion is marriage, a celebration
governed by the government of Utopia.
Marriage is a serious event and promiscuity is punished severely. Anyone
proven guilty of having premarital intercourse will be forbidden to marry for
the rest of his or her lives unless pardoned by the governor. The parents of
the household where the offence occurred suffer public disgrace for “having
been remiss in their duty” as well (More 515).
Such occurrences should not happen in a perfect society. Furthermore, divorces in Utopia are allowed
for “adultery or for intolerably offensive behavior” (More 516). Adulterers become slaves who have chances of
gaining freedom again, but second offences result in death. Such a punishment is quite harsh for Utopia,
which is supposed to be a happy and perfect society. Judging one from one’s physical beauty should not occur either,
but in Utopia, the brides and grooms-to-be are paraded in front of one another
in the nude, so to protect them from “deception beforehand” (More 516).
Aside from the union of husband and
wife, family and community structures are also crucial in the utopias of More
and Cavendish, and these structures are closely regulated by their respective
governments. A hierarchal structure
exists in Cavendish’s Blazing World, for only princes of imperial blood can
become priests and governors (Cavendish 1766).
Each type of being – be they bird-men, fly-men, ant-men, or giants – has
its own position as is “most proper for the nature of [its] species” (Cavendish
1767).
Everyone
has their own jobs: “The bear-men [are] to be [Margaret’s] experimental
philosophers…the giants her architects, etc.” (Cavendish 1767). Women and children in the Blazing World have
no public employments because they cause so much secret “mischief” for their
husbands and parents (Cavendish 1768).
In More’s Utopia, a hierarchy exists as well. A phylarch is in
charge of every thirty households and reports to the town magistrate who in
turn reports to the governor. Each rural household has no fewer than forty men
and women in it, and there are also two slaves bound to the land (More
512). In the perfect society, slaves do
not exist!
Utopians, living on an island in
which all of its cities are “identical in language, customs, institutions, and
laws” (More 511-512), know the value of egalitarianism. Every two years, the townspeople and the
farmers trade places and learn each other’s trades. The people are therefore
allowed a well-rounded and happy life.
In “A Blazing World”, Margaret the First also makes her imaginary realm
“a peaceable world, allowing it but one religion, one language, and one
government.” She esteems “peace before war, wit before policy, honesty before
beauty” (Cavendish 1770).
Margaret notes that the Blazing World is ruled by a
monarchical form of government, and she is told by her advisors that monarchy
is “a divine form of government” for there is “but one God, whom we all
unanimously worship and adore with one faith, so we are resolved to have but
one Emperor, to whom we all submit with one obedience” (Cavendish 1767). In Utopia, the government also
closely watches its citizens. One must always travel with a permit; if one
spends more than a day away from home, one will have to work at his or her
place of visit so that loitering is discouraged. The government also knows
“very well, down to the last detail, how much food each city and its
surround district will consume” (More 513). Although this allows the Utopians
to share their surplus with their neighbours, this world is also very restricting. On the other hand, there are few laws in the Blazing World, because
“many laws made many divisions, which most commonly did breed factions, and at
last break out into open wars” (Cavendish 1767). The spirits advise Margaret the First that “conquerors seldom
enjoy their conquest, for they being more feared than loved, most commonly come
to an untimely end” (Cavendish 1769). On the other hand, King Utopus in Utopia
is able to conquer the country due to the religious scrabbles that ravaged the
land before his arrival. Wars are also
looked down upon in Utopia though the citizens train regularly in the
arts of warfare. Winning by deceit –
such as stirring up unrest in the enemy country - is considered the highest
honour. The Utopians may bribe the
siblings of kings to create civil warfare or employ mercenaries to do the dirty
work. In a perfect society, wars should be non-existent, and deceit should be
unheard of.
Various philosophical viewpoints
help Margaret the First in shaping her world.
The spirits inform her and the Duchess that everyone can create and rule
over their imaginary worlds. However, in choosing helpers to create these
perfect worlds, one must choose wisely, because famous writers such as
Aristotle and Pythagoras are “very learned, subtle, and ingenious writers, but
they were so wedded to their own opinions, that they would never have the
patience to be scribes” (Cavendish 1768). Modern writers such as Galileo and
Descartes are “fine ingenious writers, but yet so self-conceited, that they
would scorn to be scribes to a woman” (Cavendish 1768). Thus, the spirits attempt to tell Margaret
that, even in the Blazing World, great minds will still be glued to their old
self-serving methods of thinking.
The Utopians in More’s Utopia
value philosophy too. However, unlike
Cavendish’s world, there is less mysticism and spirituality because Utopians
frown upon things such as astrology.
One’s educational pursuits are parallel with a view of the world where
earthly matters take precedence over spiritual ones. However, material goods are not valued in Utopia. Gold an silver are used for chamber pots and
fetters for slaves while gems are playthings for children (More 514). The Anemolian ambassadors who gaudily display
their gold jewels in Utopia become laughingstocks of the town. The Utopians
ponder death as well. They are disgusted with anyone who is reluctant to die,
because it is a “secret premonition of punishments to come” (More 519). They believe that happiness after death can
be earned, so they take on the biggest burdens because “the more they put
themselves in the position of slaves, the more highly they are honoured by
everyone” (More 520). In a perfect
world, feelings of disgust and the need to work for recognition should not exist,
yet in More’s Utopia, these beliefs exist at the very heart of the
citizen’s being.
In both
of the purported "Utopian" worlds, the imperfect religious
traditions, rigid governing systems, and askew philosophical beliefs mar what
are otherwise model worlds for all other nations to imitate. Margaret Cavendish and Sir Thomas More, in
their differing styles, are able to convey that no world is perfect, but there
is room for change, for everyone can fabricate their own imaginary worlds and
travelogues.
WORKS CITED
Cavendish,
Margaret. The Description of a New
World, Called the Blazing
World. 1666, 1668. Norton
Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. 2
vols.
New York: Norton, 2000, 1: 1765-1771.
More, Sir Thomas. Utopia. 1516. . Norton Anthology
of English Literature. 7th
ed. 2
vols. New York: Norton, 2000, 1: 1765-1771.