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 | | | Aphra Behn, by Mary Beale. Â (source) |
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| 12/14/1640 |
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Aphra Behn, All Women
On this day in 1640 Aphra Behn was baptized. The details of her birth and much of her "shady and amorous" life are unclear, but her place in literary history is certain: first epistolary novel, first philosophical novel, and a fifteen-play career which made her the first woman to earn her living by writing. "All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn," wrote Virginia Woolf, "for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds." |
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Aphra Behn and the Noble Savage
Find a short commentary about Oroonoko and an annotated guide to online resources. |  | Essay: "Racism in Aphra Behn's Oroonoko"
Read a short, non-scholarly analysis which concludes that Behn's views, while misplaced in our era, reflected the common prejudices and conceptions of her time.
"It is evident that Behn believes that her European ancestry and Christian beliefs are superior to that of her native Indian and African counterparts. ... Notable accounts of the presence of racism, begin when Behn first introduces the native Indians of Surinam. She admirably describes the natives' culture, their talents, and the beauty of the women. However, in speaking of the women, she insinuates that it is a pity that such beauty was bestowed upon women of color...." | | Online Books Page
Find electronic texts of Oroonoko: Or, The Royal Slave, The Rover: Or, The Banish'd Cavaliers, The City Heiress, and other works. | | Study Guide for Students
A university professor in England offers these reading questions for Aphra Behn's Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave, to help students keep track of plot and characters as they read the work. | |
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The TinL masthead features photography by
Natasha D'Schommer
, and the book art featured is by Jim Rosenau.
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