Skouen, Tina. “Margaret Cavendish and the Stigma of Haste.” Studies in Philology, vol. 111, no. 3, University of North Carolina Press, 2014, pp. 547–70, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24392579.
In her article “Margaret Cavendish and the Stigma of Haste”, Tina Skouen purposes that Margaret Cavendish’s claims about her hasty writing serve the purpose of being a method of self-distinction. By writing quickly, Cavendish is able to carve out her own place among poets by challenging the commonly-held idea at the time that “haste creates waste” (Skouen 556). By acting against this idea, and by critiquing Ben Johnson’s meticulous method of writing, Cavendish actively pushes against classical humanism and asserts a “a new mode of composition theory” (562). In addition to being a method of self-distinction, Cavendish’s haste when writing may in part be due to writing being the only pastime she claims to enjoy (568). Skouen explains how Cavendish had an excess of leisure time due to her social status and chose to fill her hours by writing excessively (569). Skouen concludes that Cavendish’s multifaceted intent behind her haste successfully carves out her own place in literary society while leaving the impression that her work surpasses the rules of humanist rhetoric (547).
-- Grace
