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Title

Geometric Metaphors in the Enlightenment: Squaring the Circle of the Mind from Cavendish to Joyce

Introduction

Margaret Cavendish’s Poem, The Circle of the Brain cannot be Squared, alongside other historical perspectives on and images of cognition, reveals the crucial role geometric metaphors played in theorizing the brain and mind in the 17th and 18th centuries. Cavendish, like other Enlightenment writers Cudworth, Dryden and Pope, develops poetic metaphors that specifically called upon the use of geometric imagery, primarily circle, square and line, to represent elements of the brain and mind, as well as to explore the function and power of each. The circle is specifically employed to represent various phenomena within neuroscience, specifically due to its complex and perpetual nature. Cavendish utilizes several other geometric shapes, including squares, triangles and cubes, which are often used to contrast the infinite circle by way of their rigid linear structure. While one does not typically associate the immensely complicated inner workings of the brain or mind with mathematics, let alone geometry, these writers create unique illusions in which the circle becomes indicative of a higher faculty and a more bounded, restricted shape (often a square) represents a lesser one. The influence and esteem of this metaphor has preserved its relevance up to the present, extending its reach from poetry into the realm of prose, and has even attained for it a planetary or astronomical dimension in more modern depictions.

Geometry ¶ Topic Sentence

Before looking at some examples of this geometric imagery in use, it is essential for one to possess a basic appreciation for the geometric shapes being anthropomorphized in these literary works.

Cudworth ¶ Topic Sentence

A primary instance of a circle exemplifying the supreme cognitive function and a baser geometric arrangement representing a simpler function can be found in Cudworth’s  A Treatise Concerning Eternal and Immutable Morality.

Cavendish ¶ 1 Topic Sentence

Contrary to the poetic imagery set forth by Cudworth, which suggests the brain is a linear, mechanical device while the mind is a cyclically perpetual intangibility, Cavendish proposes that “while the Brain is round, no Square will be,” from which one can immediately infer that the circular configuration is still more elusive than the square, but it is now used to represent the brain, rather than the mind.

Cavendish ¶ 2 Topic Sentence

Cavendish also refers to the imagery of a line, stating, “…each Brain / Hath on a Line been stretched,” yet proposes a nuanced conception to that of Cudworth, in which the line represents both simplicity and a futile effort to map the anatomical structure itself.

Dryden ¶ Topic Sentence

In looking at the use of such geometric allegory among some of Cavendish’s contemporaries, there becomes a slightly broader implication to the circular image and its accompanying curiosity.

Pope ¶ Topic Sentence

In a similarly distinct fashion, Pope reconstructs the macabre atmosphere of Oedipus’ blindness in his poem, The First Book of Statius his Thebais.

Joyce ¶ Topic Sentence

Finally, the geometric metaphor can be considered from a more modern perspective with the help of Joyce.

Conclusion

From Cavendish to Joyce, the circle has been an emblematic marker of the incredible majesty and potential of the human brain and mind. While geometry is rarely thought of as relevant in a discussion of cognitive faculties, it is clear that scholars from centuries past and up through the present find it an integral mode of expressing the seemingly inexpressible. Conveniently, such geometric imagery has certain flexibility, meaning it can be applied to any number of scenarios, as the brain and mind are used in myriad settings. The circle stands as the exemplary shape to represent human cognition, for the simple reason that it has neither a beginning nor an end, but rather cycles endlessly.