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''The Description of a New World, Called The Blazing-World'', better known as ''The Blazing World'', is a 1666 work of prose fiction by the English writer Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle. Feminist critic Dale Spender calls it a forerunner of science fiction. It can also be read in the context of utopias.〔Khanna, Lee Cullen. "The Subject of Utopia: Margaret Cavendish and Her Blazing-World." ''Utopian and Science Fiction by Women: World of Difference.'' Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 1994. 15–34.〕 ==Story== As its full title suggests, ''Blazing World'' is a fanciful depiction of a satirical, utopian kingdom in another world (with different stars in the sky) that can be reached via the North Pole. It is "the only known work of utopian fiction by a woman in the 17th century, as well as one of the earliest examples of what we now call 'science fiction' — although it is also a romance, an adventure story, and even autobiography."〔Steven H. Propp, ''Utopia on the 6th Floor: Work, Death, and Taxes — Part 2'', Bloomington, IN, iUniverse, 2004; p. 383.〕 A young woman enters this other world, becomes the empress of a society composed of various species of talking animals, and organizes an invasion back into her world complete with submarines towed by the "fish men" and the dropping of "fire stones" by the "bird men" to confound the enemies of her homeland, the Kingdom of Esfi. The work was republished in 1668 with Cavendish's ''Observations upon Experimental Philosophy'' and thus functioned as an imaginative component to what was otherwise a reasoned endeavour in 17th century science. Cavendish's book inspired a notable sonnet by her husband, William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which celebrates her imaginative powers. The sonnet was included in her book. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Blazing World」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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