Aphra Behn

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Aphra Behn (Cyclopedia of World Authors)

Aphra Behn (bayn) has been called the first woman to support herself by her writing, yet her origins are so controversial and obscure that scholars are not even sure of her name. Some accounts claim that she was born Aphra or Aphara Amis, and one states that she was a barber’s daughter named Aphra Johnson. As a young woman she journeyed with her family to Suriname, where her father (or foster father) was to be the lieutenant-governor, but he died at sea. Apparently Aphra and her mother and brother stayed for several years in Suriname, where she met William Scot, the son of the...

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• Aphra Behn (Critical Survey of Drama)
• Aphra Behn (Critical Survey of Poetry)
• Aphra Behn (Cyclopedia of World Authors)
• Aphra Behn (Magill’s Choice: Notable British Novelists)

See Also:

• Disappointment, The (Poetry)
• Forced Marriage, The (Women’s Literature)
• Forced Marriage, The (Character Profiles)
• Oroonoko (Masterplots Classics)
• Oroonoko (Character Profiles)
• Oroonoko (Literary Places)
• Rover, The (Drama)
• Feminist Long Fiction (Topical Overview--Long Fiction)
• Origins and Development of the Novel Before 1740 (Topical Overview--Long Fiction)
• Explicating Poetry (Topical Overview--Poetry)