Aphra
Behn Studies by Janet M. Todd (Editor)
Aphra
Behn was England's first professional woman writer, but her status
as a major author has only recently become clear. Between the
seventeenth and nineteenth centuries Behn was denigrated for her
'unwomanly' subject matter and intellectual immodesty. In the
twentieth century she has been increasingly viewed as an important
dramatist and poet of the Restoration and a founder of the English
novel.This collection forms an important resource for those
studying seventeenth century English literature and drama, and to
those interested in the development of women's writing.
Oroonoko
: Or, the Royal Slave by Aphra Behn, Lore Metzger
(Introduction)
The first woman in England to make her living by
writing, Aphra Behn (1640-1689) combines memoir, exotic travel
narrative, and romance to tell the story of the noble Oroonoko, a
black man who begins life as a prince and ends it as a slave.
Taken up by reformers in the long battle against slavery,
reprinted and imitated countless times, the story of Oroonoko
remains a popular tale.
An influential seventeenth-century fable, by a
pathbreaking woman writer, about the fall of a black prince. The
first woman in England to make her living by writing, Aphra Behn
(1640-1689) combines memoir, exotic travel narrative, and romance
to tell the story of the noble Oroonoko, a black man who begins
life as a prince and ends it as a slave. The tale depicts the
overthrow of a hero by a civilization that considers itself
superior to him. Taken up by reformers in the long battle against
the slave trade, reprinted and imitated countless times, Oroonoko
remains a popular tale that introduces powerful themes onto the
literary stage.
The
Secret Life of Aphra Behn by Janet Todd
Because of her sensuous writing in the 17th
century, wild and wonderful Aphra Behn has been a notorious figure
in history. Janet Todd's new biography elaborates on the
mysterious Behn and reveals her to be a complex contradiction. Her
politics were High Tory, but her language was considered indecent
for a woman of her times. She fought against the restraints of a
patriarchal world, yet depended upon male approval. She was a
lover of the easy life, but risked her life as a spy for England.
Todd brings new documents from Holland and England to light, as
well as discussions of Behn's entire works, in order to present
this in-depth study of a most remarkable writer.
The
Passionate Shepherdess: The Life of Aphra Behn, 1640-1689 by
Maureen Duffy
Born in 1640, Aphra Behn was a spy, poet,
dramatist of the Restoration theater, and author of Oroonoko, one
of the most popular novels of the time. "A marvelous
achievement of logical investigation and imaginative
intelligence." --Spectator.
