There are several possible ways to interpret Aphra Behn’s play, so an appropriate thesis for an essay about The Rover would depend on the writer’s interpretation. In satirizing numerous aspects of seventeenth-century British society, the author is particularly harsh on the restrictive gender-based conventions of the era. Focusing on a theme concerning the character’s manipulation of gender boundaries would support a thesis related to such restrictions.

On the one hand, Behn shows that the female characters, especially Florinda and Hellena, make the most of their disguises as they seek romance and adventure. Placing the “women on top” turns normal relationships upside down, as Natalie Z. Davis has explored. A related thesis would emphasize the importance of the temporary release from strict conventions that is afforded by carnival. This type of argument supports the positive effects of symbolic inversion, using Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the “carnivalesque.”

On the other hand, as the women are pretending to be men, they are trying to achieve their goals by using the same methods that men use. In doing so, they are not fundamentally altering the structures that oppress them. A thesis using this type of argument would emphasize that the women are reinforcing patriarchal control by trying to manipulate it rather than challenge it outright. This type of argument emphasizes the temporary quality of symbolic inversion, emphasizing the more lasting effects of the return to the status quo.