Aphra Behn : Life, Major Works & Artistic Appreciation.
☆ Introduction to Aphra Behn :
Written seventeen years after Richard Cromwell left England, The Rover responds to these vestiges of Puritan belief in English society. In her epilogue, Behn mocks the strait-laced prudishness that would turn humor into a form of sinful self-pleasure: “The devil’s in’t if this [play] will please the nation / in these our blessed times of reformation” (Behn 242). She disparages judgmental leaders, who “damn everything that maggot disapproves,” want to censor theatre, “and to dull method all our sense confine” (242). Her derision places under public scrutiny the validity of Puritan disapproval. If an audience member doubts the sect’s condemnation of one aspect of society, other frowned-upon practices might be thrown into question. Accusing the Puritan voice of restricting the audience’s sense encourages the public’s examination of normative understandings of the English culture, specifically in regards to gender.
Aphra Behn (c. 1640-89)
Aphra Behn (c.1640-1689) was the first female writer to produce a substantial dramatic canon and was also an innovator in prose fiction, and a highly accomplished poet. The details of her early life are unclear. Recent scholarship has concluded that she was probably baptized at Harbledown, near Canterbury, Kent, on 14 December 1640, the daughter of Bartholomew Johnson, a barber, and Elizabeth (née Denham). Her mother seems to have been employed as wet nurse to Sir Thomas Culpepper, who may have provided Behn with an introduction to the nobility and an entry into royalist circles.
No woman would have such freedom again for many centuries. (And in our frank and feminist era Behn can still astonish with her mocking treatment of sexual and social subjects like amorphous desire, marriage and motherhood.) During the two more respectable or prudish centuries that followed her death in 1689, women were afraid of her toxic image and mostly unwilling to emulate her sexual frankness. In her day, Behn had the reputation of a respected professional writer and also of a “punk-poetess.” For a long time after her death, she was allowed only to be the second.
No woman would have such freedom again for many centuries. (And in our frank and feminist era Behn can still astonish with her mocking treatment of sexual and social subjects like amorphous desire, marriage and motherhood.) During the two more respectable or prudish centuries that followed her death in 1689, women were afraid of her toxic image and mostly unwilling to emulate her sexual frankness. In her day, Behn had the reputation of a respected professional writer and also of a “punk-poetess.” For a long time after her death, she was allowed only to be the second.
☆ Life :
Aphra Behn was the first English woman to earn her living solely by her pen. The most prolific dramatist of her time, she was also an innovative writer of fiction and a translator of science and French romance. The novelist Virginia Woolf wrote, “All women together ought to let flowers fall on the tomb of Aphra Behn . . . For it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.” Minds and bodies. Behn was a lyrical and erotic poet, expressing a frank sexuality that addressed such subjects as male impotence, female orgasm, bisexuality and the indeterminacies of gender.
Very little is actually known about Aphra Behn's life. She lived and worked during the Restoration, in which a flowering of British arts and letters occurred, but the records of the people who lived and worked during this period are scant. Behn was born Aphra Johnson in 1640, and is believed to have married a Dutch merchant by the name of Johann Behn in 1664 and widowed by him in 1665. Some records suggest that Johann Behn was invented to provide protection for Aphra Behn; single women would have been at an immense disadvantage in the Restoration Era, while a married woman or widow would have been given more leeway.
During her lifetime, Aphra Behan worked as a spy for King Charles II, traveled to Surinam, spent some time in debtor's prison, and eventually began a career as a poet, playwright, and novelist. Some of her most famous works include Oroonoko, Abdelazar, The Rover, and Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister. She was notably outspoken about her views, which made her unpopular in some social circles, and some evidence seems to suggest that she was lesbian or bisexual.
Aphra Behn was one of the most figures to write so-called “amatory fiction,” the precursor to the modern romance novel. Amatory fiction is sometimes considered an early form of the British novel, marking a distinct departure from previous form of British fiction, and Behn's work contained a number of elements which were considered racy for the time, such as depictions of love affairs. Behn's work has also been criticized as rather racist, but it likely reflected the commonly accepted mores and beliefs of the time rather than any personal shortcomings on Behn's part.
Very little is actually known about Aphra Behn's life. She lived and worked during the Restoration, in which a flowering of British arts and letters occurred, but the records of the people who lived and worked during this period are scant. Behn was born Aphra Johnson in 1640, and is believed to have married a Dutch merchant by the name of Johann Behn in 1664 and widowed by him in 1665. Some records suggest that Johann Behn was invented to provide protection for Aphra Behn; single women would have been at an immense disadvantage in the Restoration Era, while a married woman or widow would have been given more leeway.
During her lifetime, Aphra Behan worked as a spy for King Charles II, traveled to Surinam, spent some time in debtor's prison, and eventually began a career as a poet, playwright, and novelist. Some of her most famous works include Oroonoko, Abdelazar, The Rover, and Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister. She was notably outspoken about her views, which made her unpopular in some social circles, and some evidence seems to suggest that she was lesbian or bisexual.
Aphra Behn was one of the most figures to write so-called “amatory fiction,” the precursor to the modern romance novel. Amatory fiction is sometimes considered an early form of the British novel, marking a distinct departure from previous form of British fiction, and Behn's work contained a number of elements which were considered racy for the time, such as depictions of love affairs. Behn's work has also been criticized as rather racist, but it likely reflected the commonly accepted mores and beliefs of the time rather than any personal shortcomings on Behn's part.
☆ Major & Notable Works :
(1) The Rover (Part 1 - 1677, Part 2 - 1681) :
"Willmore: There is no sinner like a young saint."
(2) Oroonoko (1688) :
This novel, published only near the end of Behn's career in 1688, chronicles the tale of a cultivated, intelligent West African prince who speaks several European languages. He falls in love with a West Indian woman named Imoinda, who is also the lover of his grandfather, the king. Imoinda is sold into slavery, and Oroonoko is kidnapped by the English and brought to Surinam as a slave. Imoinda is also in Surinam and becomes pregnant by him. Oroonoko then leads a slave rebellion-an actual event from the era-but is captured, and falsely promised freedom for Imoinda and her unborn child. When this is rescinded, he kills her so she and his child will not fall into enemy hands, and dies by rather barbarous means in English hands at the conclusion. Some of the villains and heroes were actual names from the period, English men who held posts in Surinam before it became a Dutch colony.
Literary historians trace the development of realism in the novel back this 1688 volume. Realism is a literary style that uses real life as the basis for fiction, without idealizing it or imbuing it with a romantic bias, and it became prevalent in the nineteenth century. Behn's Oroonoko has also been termed groundbreaking for its depiction of the institution of slavery as cruel and inhumane, making it one of literary history's first abolitionist proclamations. Behn has been praised for her characterization of Oroonoko, a just and decent man who encounters some very cruel traits among his white enemies; critics point to him as European literature's first portrayal of the "noble savage."
"A poet is a painter in his way, he draws to the life, but in another kind; we draw the nobler part, the soul and the mind; the pictures of the pen shall outlast those of the pencil, and even worlds themselves."
"Where there is no novelty, there can be no curiosity."
Literary historians trace the development of realism in the novel back this 1688 volume. Realism is a literary style that uses real life as the basis for fiction, without idealizing it or imbuing it with a romantic bias, and it became prevalent in the nineteenth century. Behn's Oroonoko has also been termed groundbreaking for its depiction of the institution of slavery as cruel and inhumane, making it one of literary history's first abolitionist proclamations. Behn has been praised for her characterization of Oroonoko, a just and decent man who encounters some very cruel traits among his white enemies; critics point to him as European literature's first portrayal of the "noble savage."
"A poet is a painter in his way, he draws to the life, but in another kind; we draw the nobler part, the soul and the mind; the pictures of the pen shall outlast those of the pencil, and even worlds themselves."
"Where there is no novelty, there can be no curiosity."
☆ Style of Writing :
Behn wrote in a variety of genres, many of them generally associated with male poets: erotic poetry, social poetry, and outspoken political verse. She was a staunch royalist, writing in "Pindaric on the Coronation of James II" of the need for her muse to celebrate "the Royal HERO . . . Thy Godlike Patron, and thy Godlike King. " Her poems and plays constantly reworked contemporary political issues and the recent past, notably Sir Patient Fancy (1678) and The Roundheads: or, The Good Old Cause (1681), both staged at times of great political ferment.
In the “Epistle to the Reader” which prefaces The Dutch Lover, Behn strikes a tone of utter defiance. She defends the value of drama by contrasting it favorably with traditional learning as taught in the universities. This learning, she says, amounts to “more absolutely nothing than the errantest Play that e’er was writ.”1 Having said that, she equally denies that poets, especially dramatic poets, “can be justly charged with too great reformation of mens minds or manners.” It is unrealistic, and lacks any foundation in experience, to expect drama to perform a moral function. On the contrary, such expectations are little short of absurd given that “the most assiduous Disciples of the Stage” are the most foolish and lewd group of people in the city (Behn, I, 222). Experience also encompasses the effects of the actual plays that have recently been written: these dramas, asserts Behn, have “not done much more towards the amending of mens Morals, or their Wit, than hath the frequent Preaching, which this last age hath been pester’d with” (Behn, I, 222). By “frequent preaching,” Behn is referring to the moral condemnation of the theater which accompanied the rise of Puritanism in England.
One of her final plays, The Roundheads; or, The Good Old Cause, was produced in 1682 and achieved notoriety for the way in which Behn's pen ridiculed a faction of republican parliamentarians. But Behn's strong opinions landed her in trouble that same year when she was arrested for writing a polemic on the Duke of Monmouth, Charles II's illegitimate son and claimant to the throne. This also coincided with a merging of London's two main theaters and a subsequent decline of the medium. Behn then turned to writing novels. One of her best-known works was published in three volumes between 1684 and 1687, and was based on an actual scandal of the time. Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister was a thinly-disguised fictional treatment of the antics of one Lord Grey, who in 1682 eloped with his wife's sister; Grey was a Whig, or anti-monarchist, and would go on to play a real-life role in other political machinations between the throne and Parliament.
Behn wrote in a variety of genres, many of them generally associated with male poets: erotic poetry, social poetry, and outspoken political verse. She was a staunch royalist, writing in "Pindaric on the Coronation of James II" of the need for her muse to celebrate "the Royal HERO . . . Thy Godlike Patron, and thy Godlike King. " Her poems and plays constantly reworked contemporary political issues and the recent past, notably Sir Patient Fancy (1678) and The Roundheads: or, The Good Old Cause (1681), both staged at times of great political ferment.
In the “Epistle to the Reader” which prefaces The Dutch Lover, Behn strikes a tone of utter defiance. She defends the value of drama by contrasting it favorably with traditional learning as taught in the universities. This learning, she says, amounts to “more absolutely nothing than the errantest Play that e’er was writ.”1 Having said that, she equally denies that poets, especially dramatic poets, “can be justly charged with too great reformation of mens minds or manners.” It is unrealistic, and lacks any foundation in experience, to expect drama to perform a moral function. On the contrary, such expectations are little short of absurd given that “the most assiduous Disciples of the Stage” are the most foolish and lewd group of people in the city (Behn, I, 222). Experience also encompasses the effects of the actual plays that have recently been written: these dramas, asserts Behn, have “not done much more towards the amending of mens Morals, or their Wit, than hath the frequent Preaching, which this last age hath been pester’d with” (Behn, I, 222). By “frequent preaching,” Behn is referring to the moral condemnation of the theater which accompanied the rise of Puritanism in England.
One of her final plays, The Roundheads; or, The Good Old Cause, was produced in 1682 and achieved notoriety for the way in which Behn's pen ridiculed a faction of republican parliamentarians. But Behn's strong opinions landed her in trouble that same year when she was arrested for writing a polemic on the Duke of Monmouth, Charles II's illegitimate son and claimant to the throne. This also coincided with a merging of London's two main theaters and a subsequent decline of the medium. Behn then turned to writing novels. One of her best-known works was published in three volumes between 1684 and 1687, and was based on an actual scandal of the time. Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister was a thinly-disguised fictional treatment of the antics of one Lord Grey, who in 1682 eloped with his wife's sister; Grey was a Whig, or anti-monarchist, and would go on to play a real-life role in other political machinations between the throne and Parliament.
☆ Conclusion :
Here, it would be apt to cite the words written by the eminent Victorian Era feminist writer Virginia Woolf in her essay 'A Room of One's Own' (1929) addressing the role of Aphra Behn in pioneering feminist writings in English literature :
"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... Behn proved that money could be made by writing at the sacrifice, perhaps, of certain agreeable qualities; and so by degrees writing became not merely a sign of folly and a distracted mind but was of practical importance."
"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... Behn proved that money could be made by writing at the sacrifice, perhaps, of certain agreeable qualities; and so by degrees writing became not merely a sign of folly and a distracted mind but was of practical importance."
Thank You!
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¤ Webliography :
https://www.wise-geek.com/who-is-aphra-behn.htm
https://literariness.org/2017/12/06/literary-criticism-of-aphra-behn/
https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/english-literature-1500-1799-biographies/aphra-behn
https://lithub.com/the-first-english-woman-to-make-a-living-as-a-writer-was-also-a-spy/
http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1695/aphra-behns-the-rover-evaluating-womens-social-and-sexual-options
▪︎ (Word Count : 1636)
▪︎ (Total Paragraph : 25)
¤ Webliography :
https://www.wise-geek.com/who-is-aphra-behn.htm
https://literariness.org/2017/12/06/literary-criticism-of-aphra-behn/
https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/english-literature-1500-1799-biographies/aphra-behn
https://lithub.com/the-first-english-woman-to-make-a-living-as-a-writer-was-also-a-spy/
http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1695/aphra-behns-the-rover-evaluating-womens-social-and-sexual-options
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