Margaret Cavendish’s Introductory Epistles as Essayistic Guidelines

Authors

Lina Maria Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas, Brigham Young University
Dr. Brandi Siegfried, Brigham Young University

Keywords

Margaret Cavendish, introductory epistles, essay, creative nonfiction

College

Humanities

Department

English

Abstract

When I began my project I intended to conjoin Theodor W. Adorno’s and Györg Lukács’ definitions of the essa—as stated in “The Essay as Form” and “Soul and Form,” respectively—with Susan M. Fitzmaurice’s definition of the epistolary genre to determine if definite essayistic elements found in other forms—specifically Margaret Cavendish’s work—of writing transformed, expanded, redefined, or negated the current conception of the, so called, fourth genre. I assumed that this isolation of “pure essayistic elements” would contribute toward stricter genre boundaries built on a more objective theoretical mesh work through which other pieces of writing could be more easily classified or declassified as “creative nonfiction” or “essays.”

Recommended Citation

Cabeza-Vanegas, Lina Maria Ferreira and Siegfried, Dr. Brandi (2013) "Margaret Cavendish’s Introductory Epistles as Essayistic Guidelines," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013: Iss. 1, Article 741.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/741