Aphra Behn

Aphra Behn's novel Oroonoko: A True History (1688) is a work of travel fiction that is split between two narrative voices; beginning with a first person narrative supported by Behn's interesting use of personal voice and progressing to the third person observations of Oroonoko as both a prince and as a slave, Behn creates a realistic and somewhat believable piece of fiction. As a result of this duo narrative, the perspectives of the narrative voices dominate the text, and therefore influence the…

The story of Oroonoko by Aphra Behn is the story of an African prince named Oroonoko, who is captured and taken to the new world as a slave by English slave-traders. Race and skin color play a role within this story as a recurring motif, however its role within early modern English society is inconsistent, because of conflicting attitudes towards certain groups of people, as well as the emphasis on certain cultural and class traits that transcended race and skin color, as a result race and skin…

Slavery is a common theme throughout many texts, with slaves being presented to the reader in a variety of ways. Both Thomas More in his Utopia and Aphra Behn in her Oroonoko include slavery as an ongoing theme, but address it differently. More seems to have a different definition for slavery, while Behn presents slavery as we know it but challenges the legitimacy and morals of it. While slavery is seen as a form of justice in Utopia in order to keep society together, it is a seen an unjust…

Aphra Behn and Olaudah Equiano use their respective works, Oroonoko and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, to attack the theory of imperialism in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The term imperialism is defined by James Tully as a trifecta of arguments in support of European superiority in foreign countries: firstly, that all other cultures are inferior, secondly, that the course of nature will Europeanize all…

from battle, Villenoys decides to be the one to give “her an Account of the Death of her Husband, and how Gloriously he fell fighting for the Holy Cross” (Behn 104). Upon hearing the news of her husband untimely death she beings the mourning process for five years. When the grieving period comes to an end, Isabella decides to marry Villnoys (Behn…

Alice Hackett COLT 360 Professor Howard November 1 2017 The Rover written by Aphra Behn in the late sixteen-hundreds was a revolutionary play for its time, it was written at a time when there were few female playwrights and women were just given the right to perform on stage. Aphra Behn was one of the first women who was able to earn a living from playwriting. Behn was known for her strong female characters who broke free of social constraints placed upon them. One of her most famous plays,…

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…

and especially in relationships when people cheat or break up with each other. In Shakespeare`s Othello and Aphra Behn`s Oroonoko we see a central theme of betrayal in both of their plays. Shakespeare and Behn`s make their characters mischievous, and the language they use represents each character well. Shakespeare chooses to make his antagonist cause the downfall of the antagonist and Behn`s makes the protagonist have a complete betrayal against his love, however each author`s series of events…

Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko is considered by many scholars as having pushed forward abolitionism, with Behn’s representation of the colonizers’ evil towards Oroonoko and other slaves. While reading Oroonoko, I found myself debating whether Behn is ultimately promoting anti slavery or pro slavery. Although at first glance it seems like an anti-slavery theme, I came to the conclusion that it cannot be completely placed under that category. In this essay, I will argue that Behn has no intention to…

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…