Cavendish Walked So Tolkien and Company Could Run

I’m so happy we were assigned “The Blazing World” by Cavendish. I’ve always enjoyed fantasy and stories of other worlds, but I’ve never wondered where the idea of mystical beasts and creatures from other worlds came from. Well, when reading this story, I got my answer. This story was incredible! I couldn’t help but constantly compare this story to “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” The animals given human-like qualities is just so mysterious and magical; gave me such vivid images of the strange, bear like creatures standing upright, looking down at the “distressed lady” from an iceberg.

To start, I was captivated by how she discovered this new world. It appears that the world was only accessible by those “pure of heart” or whatever. Which makes sense, as she was, uhm… KIDNAPPED, and was the only one on the boat to survive. The exclusivity really adds to the mystery and makes this world seem heavenly. Maybe she did die and this is what heaven looks like? Who knows?

One of the most captivating aspects of this story was the parts about religion. My Omnipotenr, what a paragraph. (Ahhh, get it? No? Bad joke, I understand). When she asked if there were several religions, the response was:

“They answered her Majesty, That there was no more but one Religion in all that World, nor no diversity of opinions in that same Religion; for though there were several sorts of men, yet had they all but one opinion concerning the Worship and Adoration of God” (Paragraph 16 and 17).

This must’ve been some RADICAL stuff back when this story was released. The religions she mentioned, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc, have been fighting since the beginning really. The astounding this is, is that they do believe in the same God, but there are a few small, but significant disagreements that have fueled religious wars for centuries. Just the idea of one religion must’ve been shocking to people, even today. I admire the religious Utopia she, whether intentional or not, proposed in this story. The idea of taking all the disagreements and division in religion and focusing on pure faith and worship is enticing. I often read religious texts and material, which usually focuses more on who isn’t “worthy” or “faithful” instead of practicing good faith and focusing on what their religious group can do to better themselves. As humans, we often worry about what others are doing instead of focusing on ourselves and our well-being. This is also shown when discussing how the government works just before religion.

It’s interesting how laws are introduced and discussed in this novel. Similar to religion, there appears to be less regulation which leads to less division. With more laws, factions broke out and chose sides which lead to chaos and war. It’s such an interesting concept to analyze. I feel that laws can sometimes breed stereotypes around certain groups of people, and then lead to division between neighbors. It’s a stretch, but it reminds me of the drug epidemic this Country has been struggling with for decades. Meth, Heroine and other hard drugs are illegal. Anyone who breaks those laws is instantly considered a “druggie” who purposely got themselves addicted and it’s their own damn fault. I think what this story is trying to say when discussing laws is that there’s always more to the story. What about the hard-working construction guy who was overprescribed oxycodone because of back surgery and developed a dependency? What about the person who struggles with an addictive personality? They will only ever be seen as druggies in the eyes of many. Then, whoever sticks up for them, is accused of being a sympathizer of “druggies, felons, etc.” This only leads to more conflict. Portugal is a great example, they decriminalized most (if not all) drugs and actually saw rates go down. It’s crazy what happens when you treat others who are struggling with some common decency and courtesy, it leads to less division and conflict. But back to the title…

I never knew that this story is considered one of the first fantasy/utopian texts. It’s so interesting to read this story and compare it to the fantasy stories I’ve loved my entire life. While it may have a lot to say about society, government and religion; it’s also a great story to just sit back and enjoy. That’s something I always forget in literature courses, we’re supposed to enjoy reading! It’s not always about diving to the “deepest” level or formulating a ground-breaking analysis, literature can be fun too!