In this essay I will be discussing the extent to which Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko is a royalist novella and the ways in which its domestic British politics influence its depiction of slavery. From reading this novel I would agree that the texts ideology is distinctly royalist. There is no doubt that Oroonoko influenced the development of antislavery literature in the eighteenth Century based on Aphra Behn’s depiction of noble African slaves.
Throughout this novel it is seen that Behn’s portrait of Oroonoko with both his physical appearance and his character is mainly European. The novel distinguishes Oroonoko differently from other blacks by identifying him with European ideals of beauty rather than features from what the narrator calls “his gloomy race” (p.6). The novel also considers Oroonokos natural gifts such as his virtue to be enhanced by his educations in “Morals, Language and …show more content…
It reflects on the horrors of slavery and portrays many of the white colonists as brutal, greedy, and dishonest. Behn, felt greatly disheartened that her countrymen could behead the late king Charles I (1649) and that countless assassination attempts continued on his son, the restored Charles II. Writers then feared that the British possessed a general predisposition towards violence, greed, and disobedience. For instance, the British slave trading captain first befriends Oroonoko, but later betrays him lies to him twice, and then sells him to Trefry. In addition, Byam, the real-life historical deputy-governor of Surinam, also pretends to be friends with Oroonoko and similarly assures him over and over again that he will be freed eventually. Later, however, Byam hunts him down, whips him, and without a thought orders that he be killed. The author refers to Byam's greed "he was one who loved to live at others' expense" and illustrates how he acts with kindness and friendship to someone's face and then plots behind his back
Throughout this novel it is seen that Behn’s portrait of Oroonoko with both his physical appearance and his character is mainly European. The novel distinguishes Oroonoko differently from other blacks by identifying him with European ideals of beauty rather than features from what the narrator calls “his gloomy race” (p.6). The novel also considers Oroonokos natural gifts such as his virtue to be enhanced by his educations in “Morals, Language and …show more content…
It reflects on the horrors of slavery and portrays many of the white colonists as brutal, greedy, and dishonest. Behn, felt greatly disheartened that her countrymen could behead the late king Charles I (1649) and that countless assassination attempts continued on his son, the restored Charles II. Writers then feared that the British possessed a general predisposition towards violence, greed, and disobedience. For instance, the British slave trading captain first befriends Oroonoko, but later betrays him lies to him twice, and then sells him to Trefry. In addition, Byam, the real-life historical deputy-governor of Surinam, also pretends to be friends with Oroonoko and similarly assures him over and over again that he will be freed eventually. Later, however, Byam hunts him down, whips him, and without a thought orders that he be killed. The author refers to Byam's greed "he was one who loved to live at others' expense" and illustrates how he acts with kindness and friendship to someone's face and then plots behind his back