This article's factual accuracy is disputed. |
Aphra Behn (July 10 1640 – April 16 1689) was a prolific dramatist of the Restoration, and considered to be one of the first English professional woman writers. Her writing participated in the amatory fiction genre of British literature.
Who was Aphra Behn?
Information regarding Aphra Ben is scanty, but she was almost certainly born in Wye, near Canterbury, on July 10 1640 to Bartholomew Johnson, a barber, and Elizabeth Denham. Aphra's parents were married in 1638 and Aphra, or Eaffry, was baptized on December 14 1640. Elizabeth Denham was employed as a nurse to the wealthy Culpepper family, who lived locally, which means that it is likely that Aphra grew up with and spent time with the family's children. The younger child, Thomas Culpepper, later described Aphra as his foster sister.
In 1663 Aphra visited an English sugar colony on the Surinam River, on the coast east of Venezuela (a region later known as Dutch Guiana). During this trip Aphra is suposed to have met an African slave leader, who story formed the basis for one of her most famous works, Oroonoko. The veracity of her journey to Surinam has often been called into question; however, enough evidence has been found that most Behn scholars today believe that the trip did indeed take place.
Shortly after her return to England in 1664 Aphra married Johan Behn, who was a merchant of German or Dutch extraction. Little conclusive information is known about Aphra's marriage, but it did not last for more than a few years.
By 1666 Behn had become attached to the Court, possible through the influence of Thomas Culpepper and other associates of influence, where she was recruited as a political spy to Antwerp by Charles II. Her code name for her exploits is said to have been Astrea, a name under which she subsequently published much of her writings. The Second Anglo-Dutch War had broken out between England and the Netherlands in 1665.
Aphra's exploits were not profitable, however, as Charles was slow in paying (if he paid at all) for either her services or espenses whilst abroad. Money had to be borrowed for Aphra to return to London, where a years petitioning Charles for payments went unheard and she ended up in a debtors prison.
By 1669 an undisclosed source had paid Aphra's debts and she was realsed from prison, starting from this point to become one of the first women who wrote for a living. She cultivated the friendship of various playwrights, and starting in 1670 she produced many plays and novels, also poems and pamphlets. Her most popular works included The Rover, as well as Oroonoko.
Aphra Behn died on April 16, 1689, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Below her incription on her tombstone reads the words: "Here lies a proof that wit can never be / Defence enough again mortality."
Plays
- The Forced Marriage (1670)
- The Amorous Prince (1671)
- The Dutch Lover (1673)
- Abdelazer (1676)
- The Town Fop (1676)
- The Rover (1677 [part one] and 1681 [part two])
- Sir Patient Fancy (1678)
- The Feigned Courtesans (1679)
- The Young King (1679)
- The False Count (1681)
- The Roundheads (1681)
- The City Heiress (1682)
- Like Father, Like Son (1682)
- The Lucky Chance (1686) with composer John Blow
- The Emperor of the Moon (1687)
and posthumously performed:
Novels
- The Fair Jilt
- Agnes de Castro
- Oroonoko
- Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister
External links
