Aphra Behn

Aphra Behn lived from 1640 to 1689, writing during the Restoration Period (1660-66). She is hailed as Britain's first female novelist and playwright, excepting Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich to whom religious writing can be attributed rather than fiction, and who did not earn a living from their writing. Though her writing has stood the test of time, she was not admired so much during her own lifetime. She had a difficult life, but an unusual one, travelling to British colonies and Europe and experiencing life in a way that many of her contemporary women would not have done. She suffered much debt, and for a while was stranded in Surinam after her father died on the voyage out to take up a position in governing the colony. Behn somehow kept writing and survived this time of hardship, her time abroad and experience with the native population of the colonies infusing richness into many of her stories such as Oroonoko. Aphra Behn was controversial, and often criticised by male writers who felt that she had no right to join them, especially since she decided to write for the predominant purpose of maintaining a living. Shortly before she died, Behn wrote this:

Let me with Sappho and Orinda be

Oh ever sacred nymph, adorned by thee;

And give my verses immorality.

These lines demonstrate her wish to live on through her writing. However, this was not to happen immediately after her death. Behn wrote extensively on the themes of nobility, royalty and rulership, ideas that were popular during the Restoration Period, due to the return of Stuart King Charles II to the throne and the disintegration of Cromwell's commonwealth, themes that were not so popular in the decades directly after her death. Behn's frank and often somewhat erotic writing was neglected in the following years in preference for what became known as the 'Modest Muse', that is to say, the perception of womenhood, and women writers, as subdued and feminine.

Perhaps Behn's fearlessness of convention was due to her extraordinary position as a spy, her pen name 'Astrea' being her code name. One of Aphra’s biographers wrote, “She is not so much a woman to be unmasked as an unending combination of masks.”, the multiple layers of her person appear in her writing, much of which is radical, some of which historical, the majority of it about love, yet some too about politics. When she was only 20 years old, she accepted an international spying mission: to turn an exiled enemy of the crown in Belgium into a double agent for the king. However, once she had completed the mission, the crown disavowed her and refused to pay for her voyage back to England from Belgium. Elements of betrayal are scattered across much of her writing. Though more importantly, it was this instance that she realised she must be independent and earn money, for this reason, she began to write plays.

When i first read Aphra Behn's prose, i was greatly surprised at what seemed to me to be a strange narrative style. The voice of the narrator oscillates between that of a commentator and a participant, her descriptive language is rich and colourful, yet much of her writing contains factual information, as if she is relating an anecdote to another person and is explaining the context as she goes. This is partly because the novel genre did not become popular until the 18th century, and with it the writing styles we associate with contemporary fiction.

Her plays were greatly inspired by the evolution of theatre during the 17th century. Rather than cross-dressing men, women were seen on the stage for the first time. They would also often cross-dress and wear breaches in order to show off their legs and excite their audience. A famous figure from this time, that you may have heard of, is Nell Gwynn, an actress and the mistress to the king. Behn produced plays in order to perfectly fit the upcoming female cast, creating powerful female figures with erotic undertones.

Aphra Behn's Oroonoko is a fascinating story, one that surprises the reader with its blatent goriness and twist and turns. The story is a true one, and gives us insight into life in British colonies during the 17th century, while remaining deeply artistic and often rather suspenseful. In fact, Behn's Oroonoko is so thrilling that i found myslef doubting that the story was really true! The novel follows the tragic tale of the African Prince Oroonoko, who falls in love with a young girl named Imoinda. Imoinda is stolen from him by the Prince's ageing grandfather, the King, and later sold as a slave, after the King is angered that she does not love him. Later, Oroonoko too is captured and sold as a slave and sent to a plantation where he is reunited by Imoinda. After failing to escape, Oroonoko kills his beloved with her consent, set on inflicting revenge on those who impeded his escape before killing himself too. The plot resembles that of Romeo and Juliet, while a questioning of fate and kingship is built in. The novel depicts injustice in the form of an unfair fall from status, demonstrating Behn's fascination with status. It illustrates her resentment towards a society that does not accomodate nobility and kingship, fitting in with the sentiment of the Restoration Period. Thus, her writing not only includes topics such as love, tragedy and fate, but also politics, a subject that would have been exceptionally controversial for a woman to write about. Behn was a pioneer, and remains an inspiration to female writers even today. She is buried in Westminster Abbey under her penname 'Astrea Behn', a name she took from her time in abroad, meaning 'star' in Greek, a title which is certainly fitting.