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Oroonoko Aphra Behn Summary

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Recommended: Reflections on the Rise of the British Empire

In her novel Oroonoko, Aphra Behn gives the reader insight into the British Empire, its relationship with other nations and empires, the institution of slavery, and into the lives of those living and working at plantations in Surinam. Whether her tale is entirely true with just the names changed, or intensely embellished in order to provide the audience with a rapt tale of adventure and intrigue, there is enough accurate information to portray these various little worlds of a North African kingdom, or a plantation in Surinam in such a way that the reader may ascertain some of what life in that time and place may have been like. Certainly it is clear that the politics of the time are exceedingly different to what one would consider appropriate today, but additionally it can be noted that the lines of class deeply influence position and political correctness much more significantly than they do in the 21st century. Behn, as an avid royalist and with her own connections to the monarchy in England, makes very clear that …show more content…

“His Face was not that brown, rusty Black which most of that Nation are, but a perfect Ebony, or polish’d Jett. […] His nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat. His mouth […] far from those great turn’d Lips, which are so natural to the rest of the Negroes,” and so on (Behn, Oroonoko, p. 13-14). The author is careful to distinguish Oroonoko from the average African and show that his pedigree was not just on paper, but visible in his physical being. It is interesting that Behn would take this to such an extreme considering that many European royals are known to have very distinct, though not necessarily beautiful, features due precisely to the inbreeding necessary to keep their such distinguished royal lineages

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