Aphra Behn, first professional female writer, a major playwright during the Restoration period in England, and giver of serious side eye.
Oroonoko was written before the "novel" as a form had been developed, but it certainly reads in many ways like a short novel. I've taught the book many times, in a variety of contexts--both high school and college level teaching--and it not only teaches beautifully, but also pairs well with so many other texts. Count me as a huge fan. It helps that I haven't made my mind up about it: every time I read this book, I change my mind about the implicit politics behind it. That means that I can't really predispose my students to reading it a certain way, and I feel like I am continually learning new ways of reading the book through my students' discussion sections and papers.
I recommend spending 2-3 days on the book. For older students, 2 days is sufficient but younger students really do need an extra day. The book can be divided into two by dividing the reading at the moment that the Coramantian prince, Oroonoko, arrives in Surinam as a slave. The book can be divided into three parts by assigning a section on the oriental romance (up through the point where Oroonoko's wife, Imoinda, is sold into slavery), a "middle passage" that shows both how Oroonoko is tricked into slavery and his initial period of enslavement wherein he and the book's narrator have a series of adventures in the New World, and then a remaining passage that focuses on the moment that Imoinda's pregnancy provokes Oroonoko into leading the slave rebellion, and all the tragedy that unfolds after.
Big Questions:
One of the major questions about this book is whether or not it's abolitionist. On the one hand, the narrator condemns what happens to Oroonoko and Imoinda as a horrible crime against humanity; on the other hand, she seems to be preoccupied with the fact that they were royalty in their own country. In the second reading, the problem is not slavery per se but the fact that their royal sovereignty was subjected to "unnatural" slavery. At each stage of the reading, ask your students to consider the narrator's position on slavery in general and in relation to Oroonoko's specific enslavement.
In addition to close reading, I have found that the following methodologies have been really useful for opening up the book for an investigation of its racial politics:
I recommend spending 2-3 days on the book. For older students, 2 days is sufficient but younger students really do need an extra day. The book can be divided into two by dividing the reading at the moment that the Coramantian prince, Oroonoko, arrives in Surinam as a slave. The book can be divided into three parts by assigning a section on the oriental romance (up through the point where Oroonoko's wife, Imoinda, is sold into slavery), a "middle passage" that shows both how Oroonoko is tricked into slavery and his initial period of enslavement wherein he and the book's narrator have a series of adventures in the New World, and then a remaining passage that focuses on the moment that Imoinda's pregnancy provokes Oroonoko into leading the slave rebellion, and all the tragedy that unfolds after.
Big Questions:
One of the major questions about this book is whether or not it's abolitionist. On the one hand, the narrator condemns what happens to Oroonoko and Imoinda as a horrible crime against humanity; on the other hand, she seems to be preoccupied with the fact that they were royalty in their own country. In the second reading, the problem is not slavery per se but the fact that their royal sovereignty was subjected to "unnatural" slavery. At each stage of the reading, ask your students to consider the narrator's position on slavery in general and in relation to Oroonoko's specific enslavement.
In addition to close reading, I have found that the following methodologies have been really useful for opening up the book for an investigation of its racial politics:
James II of England New Historicism:
It's good to situate the book in relationship to British politics at the moment of its publication in 1688, the same year as the Glorious Revolution, when Catholic King James II was forced to abdicate because Parliament wanted to put his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange into power.
Behn was an outspoken supporter of James, and she objected to the moves being made against him to limit his power. Oroonoko can be read as a paean to monarchical power, and therefore as a critique of the people who would curtail royal the royal prerogative.
It's good to situate the book in relationship to British politics at the moment of its publication in 1688, the same year as the Glorious Revolution, when Catholic King James II was forced to abdicate because Parliament wanted to put his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange into power.
Behn was an outspoken supporter of James, and she objected to the moves being made against him to limit his power. Oroonoko can be read as a paean to monarchical power, and therefore as a critique of the people who would curtail royal the royal prerogative.
Genre Criticism:
As Catherine Gallagher notes in her Bedford Cultural Edition of Oroonoko, the first part of the book is in the genre of the "Oriental Romance," even though Oroonoko lives in West Africa in a country called Coramantien (modern day Ghana). In this genre, a nasty, terrible, despotic king kidnaps the virginal, beautiful, virtuous love interest of the hero. The hero has to break into the harem where his lady is held captive and help her escape. This genre is especially associated with "oriental" spaces of the near (Turkey), middle (Arabia), and far east (India). Students can recognize this narrative from modern-day pop culture, especially Disney's Aladdin.
As Catherine Gallagher notes in her Bedford Cultural Edition of Oroonoko, the first part of the book is in the genre of the "Oriental Romance," even though Oroonoko lives in West Africa in a country called Coramantien (modern day Ghana). In this genre, a nasty, terrible, despotic king kidnaps the virginal, beautiful, virtuous love interest of the hero. The hero has to break into the harem where his lady is held captive and help her escape. This genre is especially associated with "oriental" spaces of the near (Turkey), middle (Arabia), and far east (India). Students can recognize this narrative from modern-day pop culture, especially Disney's Aladdin.
I feel your pain, Jasmine. This entire narrative convention is icky. (Image © Disney)
I like to show my students a map of where the fictional Agrabah (the city in Aladdin) might be located. Although the Palace of Agrabah looks like the Taj Mahal, the narrator claims that the city is near the Jordan River, so I place this location in Petra, Jordan. Then I show them just how far away it is to Accra, Ghana, a coastal town, where slave trading could feasibly happen. Even if we place Agrabah in Jordan instead of, say, Saudi Arabia, or India, there is a HUGE distance between the "oriental" East and western Africa. Why does Behn use a genre associated with the East in order to describe her character? Does the use of a such a fairy tale genre undermine her claims that she is an eye-witness to everything that's happened and that this is a true story? What are the truth claims of this story anyway? How does the opening fairy tale affect the gritty realism of what comes later in the story?
Geomapping:
Using maps to consider the spaces of the story is actually a great way to conceptualize how Behn is establishing certain key spaces in her story, while also implicitly including England in her discussion.
Geomapping:
Using maps to consider the spaces of the story is actually a great way to conceptualize how Behn is establishing certain key spaces in her story, while also implicitly including England in her discussion.
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Because England is never directly depicted in the book, unlike America (Surinam) and Africa (Coramantien), it is easy to forget that England is a part of this story. Ask your students to consider how the English are depicted in general, and whether or not the narrator aligns herself with the English in Surinam or with Oroonoko. They will have to pay attention, because the narrator switches her allegiances throughout the book. What does that say about the book's politics? Additionally, how are the Native Surinamese portrayed? How are Africans portrayed? Is Oroonoko like the other Africans in the book? How do you know and why does that matter?
Illustrations of Native Americans in Florida, John White (1585)
Textual Adaptation and Reception Theory:
Although Behn wrote many plays during her lifetime, she chose to write Oroonoko in narrative prose instead of as a play. It was, however, almost immediately adapted into dramatic form by Thomas Southerne, with a major change to the original story: In Southerne's version of the play, Imoinda is white. How does that change things? Obviously, Southerne would be creating associations between Oroonoko and Othello, but what does that do to the way that we see Imoinda as a character?
Although Behn wrote many plays during her lifetime, she chose to write Oroonoko in narrative prose instead of as a play. It was, however, almost immediately adapted into dramatic form by Thomas Southerne, with a major change to the original story: In Southerne's version of the play, Imoinda is white. How does that change things? Obviously, Southerne would be creating associations between Oroonoko and Othello, but what does that do to the way that we see Imoinda as a character?
 Albert Jones and Toi Perkins in a 2008 performance of Bandele's Oroonoko (Image © Gerry Goodstein) |  Detail from the handout of a 1776 performance of Southerne's Oroonoko |
Behn's book was adapted for the stage a second time in 1999 by Nigerian born Biyi Bandele. I haven't taught Behn's Oroonoko outside of a historical survey course, so I haven't done this yet, but I think it would be so cool to teach all of these versions of the story--Behn, Southerne, and Bandele--to compare the character of Imoinda across the three texts.
I think it's especially important to consider reception theory too. Behn has become an important figure of study because of Virigina Woolf's praise of her in A Room of One's Own and because of the important work of feminist scholars in the 1980s to include more women writers in the literary canon. But for a very, very long time, Behn was a marginalized object of study despite her popularity during her lifetime. In many ways, Thomas Southerne's version of the story--the one with a white Imoinda--is the one that people knew for centuries. Why was this version received better--because of the gender of the author or because the "desirable" black woman was threatening to the original audience?
I think it's especially important to consider reception theory too. Behn has become an important figure of study because of Virigina Woolf's praise of her in A Room of One's Own and because of the important work of feminist scholars in the 1980s to include more women writers in the literary canon. But for a very, very long time, Behn was a marginalized object of study despite her popularity during her lifetime. In many ways, Thomas Southerne's version of the story--the one with a white Imoinda--is the one that people knew for centuries. Why was this version received better--because of the gender of the author or because the "desirable" black woman was threatening to the original audience?
This old dead hero had one only daughter left of his race, a beauty, that to describe her truly, one need say only, she was female to the noble male; the beautiful black Venus to our young Mars; as charming in her person as he, and of delicate virtues. I have seen a hundred white men sighing after her, and making a thousand vows at her feet, all in vain, and unsuccessful. And she was indeed too great for any but a prince of her own nation to adore.
Jones' Masque of Blackness (1605) For Behh, Imoinda's blackness is an important part of the story because it shows her as the feminine counterpart to Oroonoko. Imoinda's blackness, however, remains problematic in the text (as does Oroonoko's). The narrator sees both Imoinda and Oroonoko as aesthetic objects of fascination, and they are perhaps exceptions to her generally poor view of Africans. Behn renders them into black versions of Roman gods--Venus and Mars--ostensibly to make them palatable for her English readers.
What I want to do is ask students to think about Behn as negotiating a space between Bandele and Southerne in terms of Imoinda's character, and to think about what that might mean. In all three texts, what kind of character is Imoinda? Compare and contrast the narrator in Behn's text to Imoinda: how is each character preserving Oroonoko's legacy? Are they in competition with each other? How is femininity constructed in these various iterations of Imoinda's character and in Behn's narrator?
One last note:
I recommend that you skim through Jack Lynch's annotated bibliography of Behn criticism. It's out of date, but it is still useful for catching up on some of the early debates about Behn's text.
What I want to do is ask students to think about Behn as negotiating a space between Bandele and Southerne in terms of Imoinda's character, and to think about what that might mean. In all three texts, what kind of character is Imoinda? Compare and contrast the narrator in Behn's text to Imoinda: how is each character preserving Oroonoko's legacy? Are they in competition with each other? How is femininity constructed in these various iterations of Imoinda's character and in Behn's narrator?
One last note:
I recommend that you skim through Jack Lynch's annotated bibliography of Behn criticism. It's out of date, but it is still useful for catching up on some of the early debates about Behn's text.
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