The Rover Gender Roles Essay

The concept of gender role is a major focus in Alpha Behn’s The Rover. I would like to argue that Behn uses the theme of rape to distinguish the different views that men and women have on gender roles. The main struggle in this play is the challenge that two young women have to face in order to escape the fate that their male family members have determined for them. For Florinda, it is an arranged marriage with a man much older than her, and for Hellena it is for her to become a nun. These women are not trying to avoid their gender roles, but are trying to take away the power that men have in society, and make their own decisions on what their future holds.
Anita Pacheco, author of Rape and The Female Subject in Aphra Behn’s The Rover, states that there were only two ways a man would describe a women—either that of a lady or a whore. She continues to say that that there appears …show more content…
One of these is through rape, which is introduced very early in the play. In The Rover, rape is used for many different reasons. For Wilmore rape seems to be some kind of seduction. For Blunt rape is a way for seeking revenge on all women for the actions that only one woman did. Behn represents the rape as social norm and something that is accepted at that time period. In the scene with Willmore, Behn writes about rape in a joking manner. Willmore makes it seem as though it is Florinda’s doing that she is in her current dilemma. Willmore blames Florinda of persuading him there with “why, at this time of night, was your cobweb door set open, dear spider—but to catch flies” (act III ). After seeing Florinda, Willmore comments “Ha, what has God sent us here? A female! By this light, a woman! I’m a dog if it be not a very wench” ( act III ). The fact that he casually mentions God mainly tells us that Behn is additionally highlighting the fact that rape was not considered a