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Aphra Ben Autosaved

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17 views12 pages

Aphra Ben Autosaved

Uploaded by

Anna Kvetenadze
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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APHRA BEN

1640-1689
THE FIRST PROFESSIONAL WOMAN
WRITER
Behn’s father general of Surinam, a British colony – there she found
inspiration for Oroonoko

Around 1668 Behn is imprisoned for her debts

She wrote plays, novels, poems and pamphlets and was able to lift herself out
of poverty through her writing. She benefitted from the rise of publishing
and the emergence of the role of the professional writer

The friend of many influential writers of the time, most notably John Dryden

Her writing was frank about the situation of woman in Restoration England
From 1649 until 1660, England was essential a republic which
emerged after Charles II had been executed at the end of the
Civils Wars. The conservative values of the Puritans held great
power: theatre was banned and the literature censored.
England was under dictatorship during this period – under the
‘’Protector “ Oliver Cromwell

Behn supposedly worked for the King as a spy in Antwerp

Behn’s support for Charles II can be seen in her portrait of the


royal prince in Oroonoko
RESTORATION LITERATURE
Under Charles II, the theatres re-opened, new styles of drama and
writing emerged. The most popular form of drama was the Restoration
Comedy – which poked fun at puritan values and often featured
adultery, courtship, and sex

Woman began to act in the theatre. The famous actress Nell Gwynn
starred in Behn’s most famous play, “The Rover”

The reading public growing rapidly as a result of the increased number


of may also be tied to the popularity of journals and diaries in the Early
Modern period
UNIQUE FEATURES 0F OROONOKO
Behn was part of the movement to bring a new refinement to
literature – we can see this in the travel narrative details of
Oroonoko, in the romance plot, and in the reliance on
experience to establish narrative credibility

Oronoko is an indeterminate text, the novels had not emerged


yet. So it is qualify as a memoir, an travel, a biography of
Oroonoko, a philosophical argument against slavery or for
royalty, a romance, and realistic work
UNIQUE FEATURES 0F OROONOKO
 First work about the New World
 First work by a female author we’ve read since Marie de France’s
“Lanval” (12th century)
 First prose work we’ve read since Sir Thomas Malory’s compilations
Le Morte D’Arthur (not a unified work )

NOVEL VS. ROMANCE


 Novels are more realistic –fairly ordinary people doing ordinary things
 Romances tend to feature extraordinary heroes engaged in
extraordinary situations
A ClOSE LOOK AT THE TITLE
Oroonoko, or the Royal Slave. A true History

The concept is likely to have provoked considerable interest in


time when a king has recently been restored to power in
England and the public is embracing the value of royalty

A time of Britains increasing involvement in slavery – empire is


growing and the country’s colonial holdings are increasing. The
discussion of slavery as morally abhorrent is just beginning. The
“royal” slave makes this subject even more pressing
A TRUE HISTORY
The term novel had not been invented yet. Behn clearly wanted
to give the text a suggestion of authenticity – thus, she could not
call it is a Romance

The first paragraph introduces this :“I was myself an eye-witness


to a great part of what you will find here set down”. She says
that everything presented in Oroonoko really happened

Behn vouches for the truth of the work to make it more


believable
A TRUE HISTORY
Oroonoko can be divided into two halves: events in Coramantien and events in
Surinam

Behn could not have personal knowledge of the events in Coramantien


The first half is very much like a medieval romance:
 Extraodinary hero
 Extraodinary cicumstances
 Unrealistic tone

Behn could have first-hand knowledge of the events in Surinam


The second half is very different in tone and approach – almost “anthropological “
in tone. But it is still difficult to accept as factual
A ClOSE LOOK AT CHARACTER
It is not advisable to assume that Behn was deliberately writing an anti-
slavery argument – though it might have been read that by others

Behn is much more interested in the royal character and Oroonoko in


some ways a tribute to Charles II:
 His ability to speak French and English
 His native beauty, nobility, and moral stature - he has the
qualities of a royal “He had… all the civility of a well-bred great
man… as if his education had been in some European court”
 He is described as Romanesque: “His nose was rising and
Roman” and his hair is straight
READING ORONOOKO ON MULTIPLE LEVELS:
Character - In a period when audience were fascinated by the heroic
(Homer and Virgil were greatly valued during the Restoration age),
Behn’s central character represents the Heroic ideal: Oroonoko’s conflict
between love and honour, his tragic end, and his stoic endurance of
torture.

Structure – the romance elements in Coramantien and the realism in the


Surinam section.

Narrative – the problem of reliability of he narrator – it is claimed as a


biography and memoir, but we cannot trust the narrator
Is Oroonoko a novel?

 The world “novel“ means, literally,


“new”
 It’s best to view the book as a
transitional work, showing the
development from romance to novel

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