Summary
In the brief Epilogue to The Blazing World, Cavendish celebrates the power of the imagination.
She says that she was able to build an entire world faster than Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar were able to conquer the worlds of their respective empires. Moreover, she created her world without any bloodshed or coercion, causing much less devastation in the process.
Finally, she notes that she enjoyed the process of making the Blazing World.
Cavendish explains that while her world is a peaceful one, she could have created any type of world she wanted.
While she was the hero of The Blazing World, she prefers this fictional power to any powerful position in the real world.
Finally, she asks her readers to be her willing subjects if the enjoyed the narrative but, if they should not want to be subjects, she encourages them to craft worlds of their own instead.
She concludes the Epilogue by expressing her love for her friend, the Empress of the Blazing World.
Analysis
The Epilogue of The Blazing World is largely reminiscent of the introductory material that appeared at the beginning of the novel. Cavendish even alludes to the same important historical figures like Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great.
However, this time, Cavendish is more earnest about the differences she sees between herself and these men: while the Letter to the Reader featured Cavendish falsely humbling herself against the impressive historical feats of Caesar and Alexander the Great, the Epilogue celebrates Cavendish's own work as decidedly more significant than these martial accomplishments. While she alludes to these men as strategic, powerful, and historically significant, she also suggests that their contributions invited bloodshed and violence to the world. Her work in creating the Blazing World, however, was done peacefully and quietly.
As such, Cavendish places extreme importance on the imagination as a powerful source of harmonious creation.
Indeed, the Epilogue helps return readers to Cavendish's earlier defense of her work, in which she argued for the pairing of fiction with philosophy. By invoking the concept of worldmaking, Cavendish challenges readers' understanding of what it means to "change" the world altogether: such work does not have to be done violently or only through military campaign. Instead, Cavendish argues that the individual imagination and philosophical inquiry are enough to effect useful change in society.
As such, the text ends by zooming out away from Cavendish's own experience as she encourages her readers to develop a more nuanced understanding of what it means to change the world. She even suggests that readers do not have to subscribe to her own vision, and can instead create worlds of their own – ultimately showcasing the primacy of the imagination in the evolution of society.
