“Liberty Is Dangerous, Especially Amongst the Effeminat Sex”: Strategies for Single Women’s Travel Safety in “Assaulted and Pursued Chastity” (1656)

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article discusses the narrative strategies and characterisation of the heroine in Margaret Cavendish’s “Assaulted and Pursued Chastity,” with a focus on women’s travel safety. Although Cavendish warns her female readers about the danger of independent travel, her heroine appears extraordinarily lucky to first survive her dangerous journey, to then win the Queen of Amity’s favour, and to finally marry an ideal husband. The text demonstrates Cavendish’s ingenious deployment of romance conventions and court culture to empower her heroine to escape from crises by intervening in the narrative. This strategy propels the narrative forward, protects the heroine’s chastity, and ensures her perilous voyage culminates in a happy ending. The female traveller’s victory also demonstrates Cavendish’s authorial power and self-fashioning throughout the text.