Aphra Behn Biography

Aphra Behn is often incorrectly celebrated as the “first female playwright.” Nuns Hrosvitha and Hildegarde wrote religious closet dramas centuries before her, though their plays were not performed during their lifetimes. As a result, Behn’s career was far more influential, and she is credited with being one of the first women to earn a living writing for the theater. Her best-known play, The Rover, is a quintessential Restoration comedy of intrigue. Complete with masks, mistaken identities, and multiple, intersecting love stories, the play was the kind of raucous, bawdy entertainment that Restoration audiences loved. In fact, the play became so popular that Behn penned a sequel, but it was the original that made her a pioneer in theater history.

Facts and Trivia

  • Like Christopher Marlowe before her, Aphra Behn has often been suspected of being a spy for the Crown. Ostensibly working under Charles II, her code name was Astrea.
  • Critics still argue whether or not Behn was a “feminist” writer. The Rover contains several attempted rapes—all played for laughs.
  • Behn’s writing was not solely limited to drama. One of her most famous and successful works was Oroonoko, a novel about an African prince who becomes enslaved.
  • Little is known about her husband, the mysterious Mr. Behn. Some believe that Aphra invented him and then “killed” him off because the social status of a widow was better than that of an unmarried woman.
  • Renewed interest in Behn’s work has drawn greater attention to The Female Wits, a group of women writers contemporary to Behn.

Biography

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Aphra Behn stands as a pioneering figure in literature, revered as the first woman to earn a living solely through her writing. Her journey was marked by remarkable tenacity and talent, paving the way for future generations of female writers. Despite the challenges imposed by societal prejudices, Behn's literary contributions continue to resonate with readers today.

Overcoming Societal Biases

In an era when women writers were scarce, Aphra Behn carved a niche for herself against the prevailing biases of her time. After the loss of her husband, she turned to writing, demonstrating both resilience and talent. Behn faced harsh judgments, with many contemporaries assuming she was a prostitute due to her association with the theater. During this period, female authors were often seen as selling their dignity along with their writings. In her prefaces, Behn boldly addressed her position as a woman writer, demanding recognition and the same creative liberties granted to her male counterparts. In the preface to The Lucky Chance, she declared, "All I ask, is for the privilege for my masculine part, the poet in me...to tread in those successful paths my predecessors have long thrived in...If I must not, because of my sex, have this freedom, but that you will usurp all to yourselves, I [will] lay down my Quill and you shall hear no more of me."

Early Life and Literary Beginnings

Born in 1640 in Kent, England, Aphra Behn grew up learning French and Dutch, which would later influence her writing. The Behn family journeyed to Surinam in 1663, where her father was to assume an administrative position, but he passed away en route. This experience provided the backdrop for her novella Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave (1688), derived from her observations and journal entries. By age twenty-six, she was widowed from her husband, a Dutch merchant, about whom little is known. Behn's brief stint as a spy for King Charles II in Antwerp during the Anglo-Dutch War left her unpaid and impoverished, forcing her to return to London in dire straits.

Imprisonment and the Start of a Writing Career

Unable to secure financial support from acquaintances, Behn was imprisoned for debt. Upon her release, she embarked on a writing career that would establish her as England's first professional woman playwright. Her debut play, The Forc'd Marriage, or The Jealous Bridegroom (1670), quickly gained acclaim, allowing her to sustain herself financially through her writings. Despite her success, Behn's choice of provocative subject matter often drew criticism. Her bold depictions of prostitution, coupled with the frank eroticism in some of her novels and poems, shocked audiences of her time. As one of the earliest female dramatists, Behn was likened to actresses, who were often assumed to be prostitutes, thus tainting her reputation further.

Legacy and Influence

Behn, like her inspiration William Shakespeare, frequently borrowed themes from existing literature, refining and enhancing them. She lamented that her works were often undervalued simply because they were "writ by a woman." Nevertheless, her literary prowess endured, and by the nineteenth century, her influence was celebrated by none other than Virginia Woolf. In A Room of One's Own, Woolf famously acknowledged that the possibility of a woman living off her writing existed because "Aphra Behn had done it!"

Final Days and Memorial

Aphra Behn passed away in April 1689. Her tombstone, inscribed perhaps at the behest of her lover John Hoyle, bears the poignant epitaph, "Here lies a proof that wit can never be / Defence enough against mortality." Behn's final resting place is within the hallowed confines of Westminster Abbey, a testament to her enduring legacy in the realm of literature.

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