Biography+of+Margaret+Caendish

=Biography =  Margaret Lucas was born in 1623 in Colchester, Essex of Sir Thomas Lucas and his wife Elizabeth; she was their 8th child. She had a very close family and lived an indulgent life, but was always encouraged by her parents to be virtuous. She and her sisters were taught how to read, write, sing, dance, and do needlework by an elderly gentlewoman. Growing up, Margaret had a overwhelming desire to be known as an intelligent beauty. Margaret's first writings were sixteen 50-70 page books she called “baby books” During the English Civil War, she fled to Oxford in 1640 with her sisters and their husbands. There, Charles I and his court were in exile. Margaret then became made-of-honour to Queen Henrietta Maria. The queen and her court fled into further exile into 1644; this was Margaret's first separation from her family, which led to her writings about a woman who flees to unknown lands and endures many mishaps. While in France, Margaret met William Cavendish and they married in 1645. Living in poverty, Margaret recieved informal science lessons from her husband and brother-in-law. Margaret returned to Engand in November of 1615. There, she wrote her first book called //Poems and Fancies,// which was a collection of poems. She was highly criticized for her spelling, grammar, and writing errors. She refused to apologize for this, saying that it was "against nature for a woman to spell right." She was also critcized for the ridiculous costumes she wore in public. Her enthusiam for science is evident in her books and poems. Being a strong feminist, criticism of her outweighed praise, but Margaret Cavendish continued to write poems, books, and theories. Perhaps her most important theory was her idea that nature could survive without man in it. Contrary to the beliefs of other male scientists of her time, Cavendish believed that mankind was a part of nature, not seperate from it.