Aphra Behn Flashcards
Aphra Behn
The First Professional Woman Writer in English
How many plays did she write?
Restoration Poet and Playwright who turned out 12 or so plays in a dozen years
Politics
- She wrote satire against the Whigs
- Wrote against King’s Illegitimate Son, the Whig Duke of Monmouth
- Held Royalist opinions
- Was a spy
Virginia Woolf Quote
“All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the grave of Aphra Behn, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.” (A Room of One’s Own)
Form and Genre in Oroonoko
- Fact or Fiction, Realism or Romance
- Referred to as “a true history,” but that could refer to any true or false story
- Part Memoir, a personal account of what she had seen
- Part Travel Narrative: west to New World, east to Africa, and West again along the Middle Passage
- Part Biography of Oroonoko
17th Century Heroic Dramas and Romances
Oroonoko possesses gentler virtues: noble, passionate, constant love for Imoinda
Newness in All Forms
- The Origins of the Novel
- The Growth of Empire / The “New” world
- The Emergence of Women Writers
- Interest in non-European “Others”
- Cultivation of Sensibility
- Enlightened Ideals of Personal Freedom
Characters
- The Prince Oroonoko / Caesar
- The Queen Imoinda / Clemene
- Trefry, the kind and generous owner of Oroonoko
- Deputy Governor Byam, an actual figure
Oroonoko
Large, “perfect ebony,” Roman nose (specifically NOT African), Fantastic Orator (neo-Classicism)
The Queen Imoinda
“She was female to the noble male; the beautiful black Venus to our young Mars”
Genre
- The Romance (Old World) vs. “A True History” (New World)
- “Where there is no novelty, there can be no curiosity.”
- “Twill be imagined Oroonoko stayed not long before he made his second visit” to Imoinda
- “…which I have often heard him say…”
Where did Aphra Behn really travel that people assume heavily influenced “Oroonoko”?
Surinam
Discuss the novella’s positioning between realism and romance.
Oroonoko, and especially its eponymous protagonist, exhibit many romantic traits. Oroonoko is every inch a king and a hero, despite his enslavement, and his reunion with Imoinda almost hints at a happy ending where the hero has recovered his love.
Still, Behn rejects the straightforwardly romantic ending which would see Oroonoko either escape or get revenge on his captors. Instead, he and Imoinda both die horribly, though nobly. Thus the tale is anchored in social particulars even as it used Romantic, and even neo-Classical, tropes.
Another element in the equation are Behn’s real-life travels to Surinam – it has long been an open question of how much of Oroonoko is inspired by her travels there.
What are some tactics by which Behn emphasizes Oroonoko’s nobility?
- Comparisons to classical heroes
- Emphasis on Western Romantic virtues (love, gallantry, etc.)
- Comparing his education to that of a white man
Can this be seen as a critique of colonialism/slavery?
Though there are some elements of the text that suggest a critique – the valorization of Oroonoko and his court, the tragedy of his, the poor representations of the white settlers – there are many indications that it would be too simple to read the novel only this way.
We must also notice the way in which Oroonoko is valorized, which is mainly through the attribution of Romantic and “white” traits, and the role the narrator plays in the text. Though she befriends and admires Oroonoko, she is also clearly complicit in his subjugation in a number of ways.
During the slave rebellion, she is relieved when men come to “assist us” and gladly partakes in tours to see the “heathens” near the plantation in Surinam.
Ultimately, we are left with the feeling that Behn regrets the fate of Oroonoko the noble individual, but has few thoughts about slavery as an institution.
