Her writing contributed to the amatory fiction genre of British literature. Aphra Behn (baptised 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was a prolific dramatist of the English Restoration, the first English professional female literary writer. Interest in it has increased since the 1970s, critics arguing that Behn is the foremother of British women writers, and that Oroonoko is a crucial text in the history of the novel. It is one of the earliest English novels. This ebook is a short novel by Aphra Behn (1640–1689), published in 1688, concerning the love of its hero, an enslaved African in Surinam in the 1660s, and the author's own experiences in the new South American colony. She was buried in Westminster Abbey.This carefully crafted ebook: "Oroonoko: or, the Royal Slave (Unabridged)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Towards the end of her life, Behn wrote prose until her death in 1689. However, she continued to write, and her play, ‘The Rover’, became a favourite in Charles II’s court. Despite an initially successful run of plays, including ‘The Forc’d Marriage’, ‘The Amorous Prince’, and ‘The Dutch Lover’, critics panned her outings, on account they had discovered they had been written by a woman. What we do know is that a quick stay in jail prompted Behn to begin writing as a means of financing herself. However, very little is known about the UK’s first professional female author, possibly as the result of Aphra erasing her history to work in the field of espionage.
While she is best known for her work as a poet, author, and playwright, she also worked as a spy for the court of King Charles II and spent some time in a debtor’s prison. ´Oroonoko´ is a riveting read that swayed many of Behn’s critics toward abolitionism.Īphra Behn (1640 – 1689) lived many lives in one lifetime. There, with his beloved Imoinda also enslaved, he must use every ounce of his reasoning and nobility to persuade his captors to free him.Ī poignant tale, ´Oroonoko´ was first staged in the UK by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and featured Jo Martin, of TV’s ‘Doctor Who.’ ‘Oronooko’ tells the story of a fictional African prince, who is duped into slavery and sent to Surinam, a British colony in South America.
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