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Satire
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World
Explanation and Analysis:
Given the nature of the utopian genre, in which the setting of the utopia drives the narrative of a story, the setting of The Blazing World is a key element of the narrative and of Cavendish’s overall arguments. The narrative takes place in three locations: the Empress’s home world, the Blazing World, and the Duchess’s home world. The Blazing World begins with the kidnapping of the Lady from her home by a merchant who takes her onto a ship. She is then saved by the bear men of the Blazing World after their ship travels between worlds at the poles.
The setting of the Blazing World is vital to Cavendish’s philosophical and political arguments. The Blazing World is Cavendish’s ideal world, which includes an absolute monarchy and a unified language and faith system. Cavendish describes the setting of the Blazing World in detail during the Lady’s initial arrival in the first section, depicting it as the ideal kingdom. The physical setting reflects her ideals:
It was divided by a great number of vast and large rivers, all ebbing and flowing, into several islands […] secure from all foreign invasions, by reason there was but one way to enter, and that like a labyrinth, so winding and turning among the rocks, that no other vessels but small boats, could pass…
This description of the physical geography of the Blazing World’s capital city, Paradise, exemplifies the detailed and matter-of-fact descriptions of the setting that occur throughout the first section. Furthermore, the physical setting also mirrors Cavendish’s belief in absolute monarchy and unity. The city is described as secure from outside threats because there's “but one way to enter” due to the “labyrinth” of rocks and rivers. Here, Cavendish equates one entrance to the city with security, just as she later argues for an absolute monarchy as the most secure form of government.
The third setting of the novel is the Duchess’s home world, which represents Cavendish’s own world of England. The Empress and Duchess travel to her home world, and the Duchess shows the Empress around, showing her the theater and the King and Queen of England. This third setting is significant because it allows for a direct comparison between the Blazing World and the reader’s world, thus elucidating Cavendish’s arguments.
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