Scriptural Exegesis, Female Prophecy, and Radical Politics in Mary Cary

Abstract

The Fifth Monarchist Mary Cary was one of the most talented radical millenarian writers of the English Revolution, yet her writings have received only sporadic scholarly attention. This essay examines Cary's contributions as a radical religious exegete and visionary poet in her two most ambitious and interconnected works, The Little Horns Doom and Downfall and A New and More Exact Mappe, or Description of New Jerusalems Glory (1651). By means of apocalyptic exegesis as well as polemical verses, Cary was able to question and challenge gender relations, clerical orthodoxies, the social order, and contemporary political regimes as she offered daring new historical interpretations of scripture in writings of remarkable visionary power and range.