Aphra Behn was not only one of the most influential dramatic writers of the 17th Century, but the first Englishwoman to make a living out of her writing. A poet, a translator, a playwright and a novelist, Behn’s work was heavily criticised for its supposed scandalous nature, to an extent which that of no male writer of her skill would have been. And these are circumstances which continue to have parallels even in a modern day society.
Behn was born in 1640, shorly before the outbreak of the First Civil War across England. Despite her aristocratic society in her adult life, she was said to be the daughter of a barber and a wet nurse, making her rise to prominence and success even more astounding. The work The Histories and Novels of the Late Ingenious Mrs. Behn, further details her as the daughter of a John Johnson of Canterbury. Yet this version of events states that Johnson was a relation of Lord Willoughby, who appointed him lieutenant general of the Surinam colony in the South Americas. Her 1688 novel Oroonoko, has further bolstered the theory that Behn travelled with her family to Surinam, where she could have encountered the inspiration behind the novel in question. Johnson was said to have died during this expedition, and Behn returned to England and married a Dutch merchant named Johan Behn in 1664, but the marriage did not last long, and they separated before his death in 1665. A marital separation in the 17th Century was yet another remarkable feat, but Behn continued to use his name, most likely in the hope that appearing married would give her better social standing.
Behn was a staunch Royalist, and was said to have acted as a spy for Charles II during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. However she shortly retuned to London, where she may have spent time in debtors prison, due to her having to borrow money for her travels, unassisted by the king. Her debts, accompanied with the inevitable financial struggle from her husband’s death, may have been the catalyst for Behn deciding to attempt to make a living from her writing.
In 1670, Behn’s first play, The Forc’d Marriage, was produced, beginning her journey towards becoming one of one of the most renowned plawrights of her time. She worked for both the King’s Company and the Duke’s Company, established by Charles II after the Restoration. Yet her first works, such as The Dutch Lover and The Amorous Prince were not commercial successes; in fact, her ‘big break’, did not come until 1677, in the form of The Rover. Her career was established, and she went on to pen at least nineteen plays. From observing the titles of the four plays mentioned here, it seems as if Behn’s less successful works, were those with titles of the romantic or marital ilk, and were thus not taken seriously. Nobody wants to hear about love from the point of view of a woman, for therefore she would have autonomy about the concept; this rather acutely mirrors how a lot of great female written romances in today’s world, are branded as ‘Women’s Fiction’, and placed quite adamantly apart from their male counterparts. However, in a manner similar to that with which she published many of her plays anonymously, Behn gave ‘The Rover’, a title less revealing of it themes.
For years before her career as a playwright, Behn was a keen poet; such poems were early indications of her skill and versatility, and their style creeps into all of her works. Indeed she was said to have inherited the gifts of Greek poet Sappho; she became known as ‘The Incomparable Astrea’, utilising her codename used during her time as a royal spy. Her poetry was published in her 1684 and 1688 collections, containing fifty-five poems overall. Her signature voice as a poet is marked by audacious accounts of current events (such as the hysteria surrounding The Popish Plot) which were easy to discern upon close inspection by an intelligent eye. Female sexuality was also a recurring topic in Behn’s poems, another facet which earned her great criticism, and was a daring move clearly tuned to the developments in society during the Restoration period. She responded heartily to the praise she earned, addressing poems to members of her social community, and using satire in order to make commentary. Her voice was remarkably distinctive, with a great lyricism and musicality to it. All of these factors paint an undeniable picture of a highly intelligent woman, who was socially and politically aware, with an ability to make her voice heard in a manner which could not be ignored. Today, however, it is Behn’s novels which draw the most literary attention. Her 1688 work Oroonoko, the story of an enslaved African prince, depicts issues of racism, gender and slavery in a manner rarely seen during such a period.
Behn died in 1689, at the age of forty-nine and with a still firmly positive literary reputation, despite her lack of popularity with King William and Queen Mary. She was buried in Westminster Abbey, to honour her contribution to poetry. A mere few days after her demise, an unnamed young lady published, ‘An Elegy Upon the Death of Mrs A Behn, the Incomparable Astrea’. The emotive tribute questioned ‘who now shall fill the Vacant Throne?’, left by Behn in the realms of literary genius. The author also laments how the death of Behn marks the end of a period of female vocality in literature; ‘Aspiring Man has now regain’d the Sway’. Such outspoken pain from a female writer is ample evidence of the affect that Behn’s successes and determination had on the writers around her, and how deeply they connected not only with her work, but with the person behind it. However the writer acknowledges Behn as not a perfect role model, as her life, particularly her sexual life, mirrored that depicted in her work. However, it will never be known whether she was a truly promiscuous figure, as in past times, any sexual relations on a woman’s part outside of marriage were considered excessive.
In 1696, ‘Memoirs on the Life of Mrs Behn By a Gentlewoman of her Acquaintance’, was published, oddly combining the subject’s own life with that of her fictional characters, not an unusual practice in the studying of the lives of authors. The biography was an embodiment, it seemed, of the debauchery of the Restoration court, and Behn was becoming strongly attached to these associations. During this period, she was condemned and dismissed along with the attitudes and libertinism of the period. The study of Behn resurged in the 1920s, when she became a focus of the literary attentions of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. Both of these women had an interesting take on Behn; while they praised her as the foundation for the careers of all female writers, they also seemed more concerned with what they imagined she should have written, what they created her origins as and her role in feminist history as opposed to her actual work. I find this to be a highly interesting point of discussion, which I can see both sides of; it is important to remember someone for the person they were outside of their occupational achievements, and for what they gave to the world as a whole, but it can hardly be disputed that with male writers, the content of their work is given far more historiographical attention. Writers live and breathe their work, and in a way, remembering the true nature of it, is to remember them most accurately.
Indeed throughout the twentieth century, Behn’s nature has been approached from many angles; as a political symbol, a revolutionary and as a feminist martyr. Historians seem incredibly anxious to place her in a neat box, but in truth, no person, let alone one of such complexity and importance, can ever really be positioned under just one banner. She was a political player, a symbol of female vocality, a woman of immense passion, and above all, a skilled poet, with a versatility of craftmanship that enabled her to make her mark upon the world.
By, Rowan Speakman.
To buy a copy of ‘Oroonoko’, click here.
To view the full list of Behn’s works, click here.
(All images sourced from Wikimedia Commons).
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