Traditionally known as the first professional woman writer in English, Aphra Behn has now emerged as one of
the major figures of the Restoration. She provided more plays for the stage than any other author and greatly influenced
the development of the novel with her ground-breaking fiction, especially Love-Letters between a Nobleman and his
Sister and Oroonoko, the first English novel set in America. Behn's work straddles the genres: beside drama and
fiction, she also excelled in poetry and she made several important translations from French libertine and scientific
works. This Companion discusses and introduces her writings in all these fields and provides the critical tools
with which to judge their aesthetic and historical importance. It also includes a full bibliography, a detailed
chronology and a description of the known facts of her life. The Companion will be an essential tool for the study
of this increasingly important writer and thinker.
The most comprehensive companion for students and scholars on the first British woman to earn her living as
a creative writer
Covers all of Behn's work in drama, poetry, fiction and prose, including chapters on Oroonoko and The Rover
Sets Behn in her historical context with a chapter on the 17th century slave trade and the colonial world
Table of Contents
1. Aphra Behn: the documentary record
2. Behn, women, and society
3. Aphra Behn and the Restoration theatre
4. The political poetry of Aphra Behn
5. Behn's dramatic response to Restoration politics
6. Tragedy and tragicomedy
7. Behn and the unstable traditions of social comedy
8. The Cavalier myth in The Rover
9. 'The story of the heart': Love-letters between a Noble-Man and his Sister
10. Oroonoko: reception, ideology, and narrative strategy
11. 'Others', slaves, and colonists in Oroonoko
12. The short fiction (excluding Oroonoko)
13. Pastoral and lyric: Astrea in Arcadia
14. Aphra Behn's French translations
Further reading
