Previous
Setting
Definition of Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like" or "as," but can also... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often... read full definition
The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World
Explanation and Analysis—Soul like the Moon:
When talking to the immaterial spirits about the nature of the soul, the Empress uses a simile comparing the soul to the sun:
But when the soul is in its vehicle, said the Empress, then methinks she is like the sun, and the vehicle like the moon. No, answered they, but the vehicle is like the sun, and the soul like the moon; for the soul hath motion from the body, as the moon has light from the sun.
This simile conveys to readers Cavendish’s unique argument about the nature of the soul and the body. Initially, the Empress believes that the soul is like the sun (the shining, life-giving element) and the moon is like the body, reflecting the light from the sun (soul). However, the wise immaterial spirits instead argue that the soul cannot exist and have life without the body to host it. The body gives the soul life and motion like the sun gives the moon light. The immaterial spirits are the most wise and all-knowing figures in the Blazing World, and thus their knowledge of the soul and body is fact, reflecting Cavendish’s philosophical opinion.
This simile elucidates Cavendish’s unique argument that the soul cannot exist without the body—an argument that emphasizes the role of the body more than many other philosophers of her time would have argued. Furthermore, the simile is significant in the broader context of the story because it refers to the recurring symbol of light, connecting the idea of light and celestial objects with divinity.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Monarchy and Monsters:
A key theme in The Blazing World is Cavendish’s support of absolute monarchy. Early in the narrative, she makes this argument clear through a simile to explain the Blazing World’s government. The Empress inquires about the society and government in the Blazing World:
Next, she asked, why they preferred the monarchical form of government before any other? They answered, that as it was natural for one body to have but one head, so it was also natural for a politic body to have but one governor; and that a commonwealth, which had many governors was like a monster with many heads
To answer the Empress’s question, the statesmen of the Blazing World compare the government to a body. They explain that it is “natural for one body to have but one head,” and they use a simile to liken a commonwealth to “a monster with many heads,” implying that a more democratic government is unnatural and something to be feared. This simile directly conveys Cavendish’s wholehearted support for absolute monarchy as the ideal form of government.
This belief of “one body […] one head” recurs throughout the story. Here, the simile sparks fear of a commonwealth, which Cavendish believes would cause internal conflict and destroy the country. This directly relates to the historical context of the English Civil War. Cavendish had lived through the English Civil War, which saw the country take steps away from absolute monarchy toward a parliamentary system. As a wealthy royalist, Cavendish and her husband significantly lost power and wealth in this conflict and were exiled from England. Given this context, her simile comparing a commonwealth government to a “monster with many heads” elucidates her fear of division and political factions.
Related Themes:
The Second Part of the Description of the New Blazing World
Explanation and Analysis—Like an Angel:
When the Empress returns to her native world with the Blazing World’s navy to protect the Kingdom of ESFI in Part 2, she appears to the inhabitants as a goddess or an angel-like figure. At this moment, the Empress decides to exercise her absolute power by using the might of the Blazing World to defend her home world, which is under attack. She flexes her power when appearing to her people and is described as wearing radiant jewels and fire-stones—she is, in other words, an otherworldly, powerful figure, and the narrative uses a simile to express this:
she [...] appeared only in her garments of light, like an angel, or some deity, and all kneeled down before her, and worshipped her with all submission and reverence
This simile is significant because it equates the Empress with divinity, describing her “like an angel, or some deity.” This reinforces Cavendish’s argument for the support of absolute monarchy. Earlier in the narrative, Cavendish argues that absolute monarchy is divine and natural because it mirrors how there is one God and thus should be one ruler. By likening the Empress to a deity, Cavendish reinforces her argument for absolute monarchy. The Empress appears “like an angel,” causing all the people to worship her—a display of absolute power.
Therefore, this simile also relates to the potential reading of the Blazing World as an allegory for Heaven, with the Emperor and Empress as divine rulers. In this scene, the Empress descends from Paradise (the capital city of the Blazing World) to save her home kingdom; this action has biblical overtones, and the simile comparing the Empress to “some deity” makes this quite clear.
Another effect of this simile is that it relates to the symbol of light throughout the story. Here, the Empress appears in “garments of light” that make her appear divine “like an angel,” indicating that light, and by extension the Blazing World itself, is associated with divinity.
Related Themes:
