The Shakespeare group should answer two of the following:
Q1: In a very surprising moment of the text, the spirits offer to provide the Empress with a writer so she can craft her "Cabbala"--none other than Margaret Cavendish herself! When asked if Cavendish can write well, she answers, "Yes...but not so intelligibly that any reader whatsoever may understand it, unless he be taught to know my characters" (181). While this seems to literally mean "not everyone can read my messy handwriting," why might it also be her artistic credo--that she doesn't want to write a book that just anyone can read?
Q2: How is the second half of this work a defense of the uses of fiction, and why authorship--particularly for women--is such a vital and important pursuit? Why might Cavendish suggest that all women should write and create the wildest, boldest works taken straight from their imaginations?
Q3: Cavendish talks a lot about "Platonic lovers" in her book, mentioning that the Empress enters into Cavendish's husband's body, and the two of them became "enamored of each other" (194). What is a Platonic lover and why might this stretch the boundaries of love and traditional romantic relationships in Cavendish's day?
Q4: In a work that Cavendish claims esteems "peace before war, wit before policy, honesty before beauty" (224), why does the Empress often prove quite warlike and willing to conquer other kingdoms and peoples, by force if necessary? Does Cavendish lose control of her work? Or is this meant to show that even the greatest utopia is still "no place" (the meaning of "utopia")? Or another explanation?
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