Aphra Behn mocking rape culture since s. View 1 comment. Oh, and also a spy, because hey, why leave it at merely groundbreaking when you can be even more thoroughly badass? So — onwards! Oh, and it's Carnival - meaning plenty of opportunities for masks, misunderstandings, deceit and confusion.
But, crucially, always recontextualised, in a manner not unlike Pierre Menard's treatment of Cervantes. And, again as you might expect, each of them finds her very clear ideas about what she wants to do with her life obstructed by men. The young woman who wants to marry for love is promised to another by her domineering hypocrite of a brother; their sister who wants to play the field is to be sent to a nunnery; the courtesan who prudently treats her charms as commodity is instead cozened into giving her heart away, by a man who next day proves faithless.
But Behn, despite the fact she quite probably had to put up with Rochester in person, never makes his avatar a straightforward monster either. The men in general, though If they see a woman, their first thought is to fuck her by any means necessary. If a man, they'll find any bullshit pretext for a fight, including but not limited to unwillingness to share a woman.
Even with supposed friends, the humour tends easily to tip from joshing into bullying. More than anything it leaves a sense of how tiring life must have been among these swaggering arseholes, even closer to ape behaviour than the default man of our own time. You can see why after its initial success this play rather faded out for some centuries - first tidied up, Nahum Tate-style, and then dropped altogether until a late 20th century rediscovery.
And yet, Behn herself I feel sure that, more than any author for a century either side, if she fetched up in the present she'd take it in her stride. Something which will be obvious to anyone with a developed sense for historical bawdy, or probably just anyone who reads Viz , but could easily escape the sober student, or anyone not raised with a British ear for smut. I really enjoyed this book.
I read it for an English Lit class this semester. I can't remember every detail, but what I took from the book was that Aphra Behn was one of the many women writers who used writing as a way to be free, as women didn't have rights back then.
Many women used their wit in literature to get men's attention to see that they were more than just a pretty face. The whole play was very humorous to me. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in British Lit, plays I really enjoyed this book. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in British Lit, plays, Shakespeare or Feminist Writers. Jan 20, J rated it really liked it.
The most famous woman writer of the Restoration's most known play is a helluva commentary on male female relations in these that gets at some elements missed in the men's. There's a near rape scene in this that goes far away from comedy as you can get and the male characters act as though it were no big thing, showing how little things have changed and also how much they have as well.
This was my least favourite out of the three plays I read for my English course. It dealt with topics that I wasn't expecting and I think that's why I didn't like it as much. Feb 10, Mayson Pu rated it really liked it. Draws the raw nature of the rake and fop character out of their environment, and strips them of the 'amiable' qualities.
The Rover allows audience members to see fault in the treatment of women and sexual culture of the time. Oct 21, Karen rated it it was amazing Shelves: plays. I found once I got the hang of the speech in this play it was a wonderful read, it had a fluency of language which was breathtaking.
It had be giggling and also shock it the behaviour of are so called Gentleman and how hard to must have been for women in this era. Jan 18, Emma Crabtree rated it it was amazing. Jan 31, Jack Crouse rated it liked it. Oct 14, emy rated it really liked it. Never thought I would ever say this about a 17th century play I had to read and annotate for class but this was so entertaining the story was so fun and omg the amount of drama this has.
This play was part of the required reading on my course and like many of the other texts I have read for this purpose, I had no idea what it was about before starting it. Simply put, this play was a real struggle to read. It was incredibly uninteresting and I did not enjoy it at all.
As a restoration comedy, produced during a time in which the libertine culture was celebrated, I understand the abundance of sexual jokes and innuendos, but they were unfunny and often felt unnaturally forced into th This play was part of the required reading on my course and like many of the other texts I have read for this purpose, I had no idea what it was about before starting it.
As a restoration comedy, produced during a time in which the libertine culture was celebrated, I understand the abundance of sexual jokes and innuendos, but they were unfunny and often felt unnaturally forced into the dialogue. None of the characters were particularly memorable and neither did I care for any of them. The men were rude and excessively manipulative of the women, while the women themselves were poorly characterised. Overall, The Rover was an incredibly boring and unfunny comedy.
The narrative was uninteresting and the characterisation was poor. Who is rover.? The Rover study guide contains a biography of Aphra Behn, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis of the play.
The Rover essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the play The Rover by Aphra Behn. Remember me. Kreis-Shinck, Annette. Madison: Associated University Presses, Owen, Susan J. Janet Todd. Pacheco, Anita. Staves, Susan. Goodson, E. Goodson, Ellen T. The newsletter highlights recent selections from the journal and useful tips from our blog. Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines.
Representing the work of students from hundreds of institutions around the globe, Inquiries Journal 's large database of academic articles is completely free. Learn more Blog Submit. Disclaimer: content on this website is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical or other professional advice. Moreover, the views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of Inquiries Journal or Student Pulse, its owners, staff, contributors, or affiliates.
Forgot password? Reset your password ». By Ellen T. Goodson , Vol. Cite References Print. References Behn, Aphra. Ellen T. From the Inquiries Journal Blog. Related Reading Literature » Aphra Behn. Persuasion and Agency in Aphra Behn's Oroonoko. Literature » English Literature. Political Science » Women in Politics. Monthly Newsletter Signup The newsletter highlights recent selections from the journal and useful tips from our blog.
Follow us to get updates from Inquiries Journal in your daily feed. Nothing is known for certain how she gained the considerable learning that is evident from her works. Johnson, however, died on the way, and, it is believed, Aphra lived for several months in Suriname. Her most famous novel, Oroonoko , is believed to be based on her experiences there. On her return to England in , she either married or took the name of a Dutch merchant named Behn, who died, possibly in the plague of Left without funds, Mrs.
Behn, as she would subsequently be known, accepted an assignment as a secret agent for Charles II in Antwerp during the war against the Dutch — Literary Criticism of Aphra Behn.
Behn grew up in the England of the Puritan Commonwealth that closed the theaters in , effectively putting an end to the greatest period of theatrical achievement in English history. When Charles II was restored to the throne in , he brought the theater back with him, having developed a love for the stage during his years of exile on the Continent. The previous Elizabethan and Jacobean prohibitions on women performing on the commercial stage gave way, though the moral opprobrium attached to actresses remained strong.
However, the novelty of women onstage may have contributed to the subsequent acceptance of women playwrights, which Behn exploited in establishing her dramatic career. Behn forcefully defended her works in the prefaces and epilogues to her plays, countering the charge that her dramas could not be any good because they were by a woman and consequently were lacking in erudition and training in classically derived dramatic principles.
Behn argued not only that women could equal men in learning if they had equal educational opportunities, but even more radically that schooling and scholarship were not essential for creating entertaining dramas. The play opens with two sisters—Hellena and Florinda—discussing their dismal fate. The younger, Hellena, is to be sent to a nunnery, while her sister, who has fallen in love with the English colonel Belvile, is being offered in marriage by her father to a wealthy old man and by her brother to one of his friends for his own advantage.
The respectable Hellena takes on the disguise of a Gypsy whore to attract Willmore, while the actual whore Angellica falls in love with him as well. Angellica points out that men are just as likely to act the prostitute, holding out for the highest bidder and exchanging sex for a handsome dowry.
0コメント