Oroonoko: An Authoritative Text, Historical Backgrounds, Criticism (Norton Critical Editions): A Norton Critical Edition: 0

by Aphra Behn (Author), Aphra Behn (Author), Joanna Lipking (Author)

• Used

  Illustrated
  1997

  $3.24

  The editor supplies explanatory annotations and textual notes. Historical Backgrounds is an especially rich collection of seventeenth-and eighteenth-century documents about colonizers and slaves in the new world. Topically arranged- Montaigne on America, The Settling of Surinam, Observers of Slavery, 1654-1712, After Oroonoko: Noble Africans in Europe, and Opinions on Slavery -these selections create a revealing context for Behn's unusual story. Illustrations and maps are also included. Criticism begins with an overview of responses to Behn and Oroonoko, from learned and popular writers of her time to Sir Walter Scott and Virginia Woolf, among others. Current critical interpretations are by William C. Spengemann, Jane Spencer, Robert L. Chibka, Laura Brown, Charlotte Sussman, and Mary Beth Rose. A Chronology of Behn's life and a Selected Bibliography are included.

• New

  Paperback
  2003

  $10.69

  Restoration-era poet, playwright and novelist Aphra Behn was the first truly professional woman writer in English, and Oroonoko is her sophisticated and insightful condemnation of slavery. This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction by Janet Todd. When Prince Oroonoko's passion for the virtuous Imoinda arouses the jealousy of his grandfather, the lovers are cast into slavery and transported from Africa to the colony of Surinam. Oroonoko's noble bearing soon wins the respect of his English captors, but his struggle for freedom brings about his destruction. Inspired by Aphra Behn's visit to Surinam, Oroonoko reflects the author's romantic view of native peoples as noble savages in 'the first state of innocence, before man knew how to sin'. The novel also reveals Behn's ambiguous attitude to African slavery - while she favoured it as a means to strengthen England's rule, her powerful and moving work conveys its injustice and brutality. This new edition of Oroonoko is based on the first printed version of 1688, and includes a chronology, further reading and notes. In her introduction, Janet Todd examines Aphra Behn's views of slavery, colonization and politics, and her position as a professional woman writer in the Restoration. Little is known of Aphra Behn's (1640-1689) early life. She was probably born in Kent, and in the early 1660s claims to have visited the British colony of Surinam. She turned to literature for a living, producing numerous short stories, 19 stage plays and political propaganda for the Tories. If you enjoyed Oroonoko, you might like Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders, also available in Penguin Classics.