Hobbes and his ideas on government played a major role in the governing structure of the all female society that is found in Millenium Hall. Hobbes wrote Leviathan in 1651 after the English civil war. This was a time of great distress for Hobbes because his country was falling apart. He saw his society in turmoil and decided there needed to be steps taken to control, rebuild and stop this sort of thing from happening again. He realized that countries need strong governments in order to maintain control of its people. There are four parts to this treaty; Of Man, Of Common-wealth, Of a Christian Common-wealth and Of the Kingdom of Darkness. Of Man is referred to in Millenium Hall on page 111; when the way the women run their own government is discussed. Throughout Millenium Hall, it is not certain whether the women subscribe completely to the Hobbes view or not.
Context: The History of Sir George Ellison Vol. 1 & Vol. 2, Sarah Scott (1766)
Sara Scott wrote The History of Sir George Ellison after Millennium Hall. This novel follows Sir George as he applies all that he learned about governing to his own farms in Jamaica. This novel shows how a man can implement the same governing rules as the women and have success in his business. This reinforces the male/female debate of who can lead and who can not. It is evident from the sequel of the female government that Scott believes that it does not matter if a woman or man is in charge as long as you follow the "rules". This sequel may also stand for the future expansion of Millennium Hall and its ideals and practices.
Context: Paradise Lost, John Milton (1667)
Milton’s Paradise Lost was published in 1667 as an epic poem written in blank verse. The first edition included ten books and the second edition, published in 1674 included twelve books. Paradise Lost became an English “classic,” specifically in the Anglican church, though Milton was known to be a republican commonwealthman. Though Milton’s epic poem was written without meaning to dialogue about religion or religious issues, “his poem does embody the theology of free will, or salvation by true faith and good works…” (Kelly 38). Free will and salvation by good works are both relevant themes in Millenium Hall. Miss Melvyn quotes Paradise Lost a couple times in her discourse with Sir George Ellison and Mr. Lamont. The learned ladies of Millenium Hall would have surely read Paradise Lost in their desire to adequately educate themselves. It would have been a cultural, philosophical, and religious read for them. Miss Melvyn, upon explaining Millenium Hall’s view of charity and good words says, “…thus the receiver of a favor form a truly generous person, ‘by owing owes not, and is at once indebted and discharged’”(Scott 94). She uses Paradise Lost to illustrate the Hall’s doctrine that “the greatest proof of a noble mind is to feel a joy in gratitude,” that one who gives feels the joy of giving as well as the joy they allow the benefactor of their actions to feel (Scott 93).It is interesting however that Millenium gives as much credit as it does to Paradise Lost. Millenium Hall is a female utopian novel, and varies greatly from Milton’s illustration of Eve, a woman, causing the fall from paradise for all of mankind. Milton is often characterized as an “anti-feminist,” so the relationship between his writing and the ladies of Millenium Hall may seem odd. Milton’s Paradise Lost can be read as descriptive of the debate of “anti-feminism” that was prominent in the 17th and 18th centuries. Milton’s description of Eve before and after the fall illustrates his “anti-feminist” view. Before the fall, Eve is described by Adam as “fairest of Creation, last and best / Of all God’s Works” (9.896-97). Then, after the Fall of paradise, a consequence of Eve eating the fruit, Adam describes her as “create[d] at last /This novelty on Earth, this fair defect / Of Nature” (10.890-92). Shannon Miller, in her article entitled “Serpentine Eve: Milton and the Seventeenth-Century Debate Over Woman” states, Milton’s poem, more so than any other analogue or source for the story of the Fall, explores what this “principall esse” is in Eve by delineating her “inclinations.” The protracted experience that Adam and Eve have in the Garden—rather than the almost immediate Fall conventionally represented within analogues—allowed Milton time to explore Eve’s character” (Miller 56). The very fact that Milton explores Eve’s character but does not explore Adam’s shows he feels woman’s characters are worth doubting and questioning, while the questioning of mans’ character is unnecessary. The woman of Millenium Hall would disagree with this. While they do establish and maintain a certain standard of morals for all woman living in Millenium Hall, they also question the men and those men who visit to learn about their utopia. There questioning of character is not gender biased. They established Millenium Hall to escape from those who think of women as Milton does. Miss Melvyn’s quoting of Paradise Lost then shows her learnedness of cultural and religious text, and her ability to think of philosophical issues, as she would not have been allowed the opportunity outside of Millenium Hall.
Context: "Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences", David Hume (1742)
Context: The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing-World, Margaret Cavendish (1666)
Written by Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle and an early example of science fiction, the Blazing World is about a separate world at our North Pole populated by several species of animal men (and women) and other sorts of men, unlike our own. The separate world is written as a utopia, where all the species speak one language and have no enemies. The book begins with a note from the author "To all Noble and Worthy Ladies," expressing Cavendish's desire for females to read this tale, and that although she "cannot be Henry the Fifth, or Charles the Second; yet, I will endeavor to be, Margaret the First" (Cavendish). The lead character in the story, only referred to as the Lady, finds her way to the Blazing World after being forced away by a man who had fallen in love with her. All the male crew members on the ship die, and the Lady is taken to the Emperor of the world by several beast-men. Here she is mistaken for a Goddess, and is made their new ruler (and given a spear to defeat enemies, of which there are none yet.) After "The Description of" in the title, we begin to see similarities to Millennium Hall. Her first act as ruler of the new world, that was getting along just fine, is to expand their arts and sciences. She sets up schools, and "founded several societies" (Cavendish) by splitting the races into different specializations. The Empress inquires about their lack of laws, and the natives explain that too many laws lead to divisions among the people, then factions, then war, so it seems they run the world with a minimal rule-set, like or unlike the ladies in Millennium Hall. The Empress's new government breaks down into divisions and factions, and she must go to war, and comes out victorious, so the utopia is basically dissolved at this point. In the epilogue Cavendish claims herself to be the Empress of the Philosophical World.
Context: The History of Sir George Ellison Vol. 1 & Vol. 2, Sarah Scott (1766)
Sara Scott wrote The History of Sir George Ellison after Millennium Hall. This novel follows Sir George as he applies all that he learned about governing to his own farms in Jamaica. This novel shows how a man can implement the same governing rules as the women and have success in his business. This reinforces the male/female debate of who can lead and who can not. It is evident from the sequel of the female government that Scott believes that it does not matter if a woman or man is in charge as long as you follow the "rules". This sequel may also stand for the future expansion of Millennium Hall and its ideals and practices.
Context: Paradise Lost, John Milton (1667)
Milton’s Paradise Lost was published in 1667 as an epic poem written in blank verse. The first edition included ten books and the second edition, published in 1674 included twelve books. Paradise Lost became an English “classic,” specifically in the Anglican church, though Milton was known to be a republican commonwealthman. Though Milton’s epic poem was written without meaning to dialogue about religion or religious issues, “his poem does embody the theology of free will, or salvation by true faith and good works…” (Kelly 38). Free will and salvation by good works are both relevant themes in Millenium Hall. Miss Melvyn quotes Paradise Lost a couple times in her discourse with Sir George Ellison and Mr. Lamont. The learned ladies of Millenium Hall would have surely read Paradise Lost in their desire to adequately educate themselves. It would have been a cultural, philosophical, and religious read for them. Miss Melvyn, upon explaining Millenium Hall’s view of charity and good words says, “…thus the receiver of a favor form a truly generous person, ‘by owing owes not, and is at once indebted and discharged’”(Scott 94). She uses Paradise Lost to illustrate the Hall’s doctrine that “the greatest proof of a noble mind is to feel a joy in gratitude,” that one who gives feels the joy of giving as well as the joy they allow the benefactor of their actions to feel (Scott 93).It is interesting however that Millenium gives as much credit as it does to Paradise Lost. Millenium Hall is a female utopian novel, and varies greatly from Milton’s illustration of Eve, a woman, causing the fall from paradise for all of mankind. Milton is often characterized as an “anti-feminist,” so the relationship between his writing and the ladies of Millenium Hall may seem odd. Milton’s Paradise Lost can be read as descriptive of the debate of “anti-feminism” that was prominent in the 17th and 18th centuries. Milton’s description of Eve before and after the fall illustrates his “anti-feminist” view. Before the fall, Eve is described by Adam as “fairest of Creation, last and best / Of all God’s Works” (9.896-97). Then, after the Fall of paradise, a consequence of Eve eating the fruit, Adam describes her as “create[d] at last /This novelty on Earth, this fair defect / Of Nature” (10.890-92). Shannon Miller, in her article entitled “Serpentine Eve: Milton and the Seventeenth-Century Debate Over Woman” states, Milton’s poem, more so than any other analogue or source for the story of the Fall, explores what this “principall esse” is in Eve by delineating her “inclinations.” The protracted experience that Adam and Eve have in the Garden—rather than the almost immediate Fall conventionally represented within analogues—allowed Milton time to explore Eve’s character” (Miller 56). The very fact that Milton explores Eve’s character but does not explore Adam’s shows he feels woman’s characters are worth doubting and questioning, while the questioning of mans’ character is unnecessary. The woman of Millenium Hall would disagree with this. While they do establish and maintain a certain standard of morals for all woman living in Millenium Hall, they also question the men and those men who visit to learn about their utopia. There questioning of character is not gender biased. They established Millenium Hall to escape from those who think of women as Milton does. Miss Melvyn’s quoting of Paradise Lost then shows her learnedness of cultural and religious text, and her ability to think of philosophical issues, as she would not have been allowed the opportunity outside of Millenium Hall.
Context: "Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences", David Hume (1742)
Written in 1742 and included in David Hume’s Essays,Moral and Political, Volume II, the
essay “Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences” argues that arts and
sciences emerge first in republic societies before they can develop in “civilized
monarchies” (Meek Lange). The essay also contends that the development of
artistic and scientific excellence must be rooted in a legal, orderly structure
such as government. Though artistic
progress may flourish in a monarchy, scientific advancement appears to thrive
in republic societies, thus strengthening the notion of public rule and the
need to align with other governments.
In contrast, the society in Millenium Hall is governed by a selective group with the pretense
of democracy separate from the outside world.
However, this semblance of shared governing seems disproportionate with
the “founders” of the society relegating the rules. Lamont points out that “everyone may demand
an equal power, but laws seem to require obedience; pray, from whence do you
take those which you wish to make your rule of life?” (Scott 166). Mrs. Mancel’s response that the society is
upheld by the “Christian laws” does not negate the society’s method or those in
power of enforcing these laws. Thus, the
society may be closer to a monarchy-type government and the artistic advancement
of its residents an indirect result of the societal structure of laws. In turn,
these laws, though credited to the doctrine of the bible, reflect the influence
of predetermined governing laws.
Context: Portraits in the characters of the muses in the Temple of Apollo, Richard Samuel
(1778)
The Bluestockings Society, or Bluestockings Circle, originated
with upper class women and a few men gathering socially to exchange
intellectual conversations in a moral and virtuous setting. Though there are many references to “bluestockings”
in the 15th and 16th century, the renowned Blue Stocking
Society of England was formed in the 1750’s by an elite group of women, Elizabeth
Montagu,
Frances Boscawen, and Elizabeth Vesey. By
the 1770’s the term “bluestocking circle” was widely attributed to female literary
circles and encouraged the scholarship of underprivileged women. The society consisted of artists, poets,
musicians, actors, politicians and writers such as Sarah Scott. Her novel Millenium Hall was based loosely on
this social group. Though the society fell out of favor by the end of the century, the interactions and friendships of these prominent women continued through the late 1790s.
Richard Samuel’s painting of the nine muses in
mythology included several bluestocking members such as Elizabeth Carter, Angelica
Kauffman, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Catharine Macaulay, Elizabeth Montagu,
Elizabeth Griffith, Hannah More, Elizabeth Ann Sheridan and Charlotte Lennox in
recognition for their success in poetry, writing, scholarship, leadership, and
other arts.
Context: The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing-World, Margaret Cavendish (1666)
Written by Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle and an early example of science fiction, the Blazing World is about a separate world at our North Pole populated by several species of animal men (and women) and other sorts of men, unlike our own. The separate world is written as a utopia, where all the species speak one language and have no enemies. The book begins with a note from the author "To all Noble and Worthy Ladies," expressing Cavendish's desire for females to read this tale, and that although she "cannot be Henry the Fifth, or Charles the Second; yet, I will endeavor to be, Margaret the First" (Cavendish). The lead character in the story, only referred to as the Lady, finds her way to the Blazing World after being forced away by a man who had fallen in love with her. All the male crew members on the ship die, and the Lady is taken to the Emperor of the world by several beast-men. Here she is mistaken for a Goddess, and is made their new ruler (and given a spear to defeat enemies, of which there are none yet.) After "The Description of" in the title, we begin to see similarities to Millennium Hall. Her first act as ruler of the new world, that was getting along just fine, is to expand their arts and sciences. She sets up schools, and "founded several societies" (Cavendish) by splitting the races into different specializations. The Empress inquires about their lack of laws, and the natives explain that too many laws lead to divisions among the people, then factions, then war, so it seems they run the world with a minimal rule-set, like or unlike the ladies in Millennium Hall. The Empress's new government breaks down into divisions and factions, and she must go to war, and comes out victorious, so the utopia is basically dissolved at this point. In the epilogue Cavendish claims herself to be the Empress of the Philosophical World.
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