Research Paper on:
Duchess of Newcastle, Margaret Cavendish

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
an individual who was not to stand still, as a woman, in a world that was changing. As one author notes, "Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, was born in  1623, just as a great scientific change was taking place....Change brings opportunity, and Cavendish helped pioneer a new role for women in this changing world" (Lienhard ). In the following  paper we examine this fascinating woman who stands as a powerful figure in the history of women. Margaret Cavendish "Margaret was born the youngest of eight children in  1624 in Colchester, England" (Serra). As a young child she "was educated at home in the feminine arts, delighted in creating her own fashions; was contemplative rather than boisterous; and  enjoyed reading, but not necessarily studying" (Margaret Lucas Cavendish (1623-74)). Her family was comprised of "devoted Royalists, and from 1643-1645, Margaret became maid of honor to Queen Henrietta Maria. When  royalist forces were defeated in 1644, the Queen and her court fled into France in exile" (Nigro). While in exile she was to demonstrate how unlike the average woman she  was. First and foremost we find that it was during her exile that she met and married William Cavendish. And, while that may seem traditional in some ways, we  note that she fell in love with the man and married for love when most women were instructed to marry for money and stability. She "also...began writing and publishing during  her exile. Through her writing, Cavendish became the first aristocratic woman in England to defend the female sex" (Serra). It was in these writings that "Her viewpoints on feminism" became  evident (Serra). They "were especially prominent in her autobiographical work A True Relation of my Birth, Breeding, and Life" (Serra). She was often ridiculed and ostracized by men and