Join Amazon Prime and ship Two-Day for free and Overnight for $3.99. Already a member? Sign in.
For more than 60 years, Penguin Classics have been the most popular editions of the world's greatest literature. Visit our Penguin Classics Store to browse more books, find Penguin Classic authors, and learn more about the Penguin Classics Reading Group. |
Frequently Bought Together
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
by Margaret Cavendish
|
by Samuel Richardson
|
by Frances Burney
|
by Josephine A. Roberts
|
by Earl of Rochester John Wilmot
|
Editorial Reviews
Review
Aphra Behn, considered the first professional female writer in English, produced literature in a variety of genres during the middle of the seventeenth century. Her work combines themes of passion, intrigue, and honor, and her prose is romantic in the classic sense. Oroonoko, The Rover and Other Works are as enlightening as they are entertaining, a mixture of reportage and high adventure. In "The Fair Jilt," the beautiful and treacherous Miranda is chaperoned in a convent while deciding which of her many suitors she will have. When denied her first choice, she is quick to exact her revenge. "Oroonoko" is the tale of a young African prince who is tricked into slavery and brought to Surinam. When he meets up again with the lover he believed was dead, he is doubly determined to live free or die. What is remarkable about these stories is the tremendous willpower of the characters. Aphra Behn's protagonists clearly reflect her own passion for life, a spirit which led her to write in a letter to a male colleague: "All I ask is the privilege... to tread in those successful paths my predecessors have so long thrived in ... If I must not because of my sex, have this freedom, but that you will usurp all to yourselves; I lay down my quill and you shall have no more of me." Fortunately, Aphra Behn persevered and her work, like her life - unhampered by either modesty or apology - exudes a rare vitality. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Sonja Larsen
Product Description
When Prince Oroonoko's passion for the virtuous Imoinda arouses the jealousy of his grandfather, the lovers are cast into slavery and transported from Africa to the colony of Surinam. Oroonoko's noble bearing soon wins the respect of his English captors, but his struggle for freedom brings about his destruction. Inspired by Aphra Behn's visit to Surinam, Oroonoko (1688) reflects the author's romantic view of Native Americans as simple, superior peoples 'in the first state of innocence, before men knew how to sin'. The novel also reveals Behn's ambiguous attitude to African slavery - while she favoured it as a means to strengthen England's power, her powerful and moving work conveys its injustice and brutality.
See all Editorial Reviews
Aphra Behn, considered the first professional female writer in English, produced literature in a variety of genres during the middle of the seventeenth century. Her work combines themes of passion, intrigue, and honor, and her prose is romantic in the classic sense. Oroonoko, The Rover and Other Works are as enlightening as they are entertaining, a mixture of reportage and high adventure. In "The Fair Jilt," the beautiful and treacherous Miranda is chaperoned in a convent while deciding which of her many suitors she will have. When denied her first choice, she is quick to exact her revenge. "Oroonoko" is the tale of a young African prince who is tricked into slavery and brought to Surinam. When he meets up again with the lover he believed was dead, he is doubly determined to live free or die. What is remarkable about these stories is the tremendous willpower of the characters. Aphra Behn's protagonists clearly reflect her own passion for life, a spirit which led her to write in a letter to a male colleague: "All I ask is the privilege... to tread in those successful paths my predecessors have so long thrived in ... If I must not because of my sex, have this freedom, but that you will usurp all to yourselves; I lay down my quill and you shall have no more of me." Fortunately, Aphra Behn persevered and her work, like her life - unhampered by either modesty or apology - exudes a rare vitality. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Sonja Larsen
Product Description
When Prince Oroonoko's passion for the virtuous Imoinda arouses the jealousy of his grandfather, the lovers are cast into slavery and transported from Africa to the colony of Surinam. Oroonoko's noble bearing soon wins the respect of his English captors, but his struggle for freedom brings about his destruction. Inspired by Aphra Behn's visit to Surinam, Oroonoko (1688) reflects the author's romantic view of Native Americans as simple, superior peoples 'in the first state of innocence, before men knew how to sin'. The novel also reveals Behn's ambiguous attitude to African slavery - while she favoured it as a means to strengthen England's power, her powerful and moving work conveys its injustice and brutality.
See all Editorial Reviews
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Citations
(learn more)
9
books
cite this book:
See all 9 books citing this book
- Troping Oroonoko from Behn to Bandele by Susan B. Iwanisziw on page 56, page 81, and page 82
- Cities of the Dead by Professor Joseph Roach in Back Matter
- In Proximity: Emmanuel Levinas and the Eighteenth Century by Melvyn New on page 65
- Colonial Women: Race and Culture in Stuart Drama by Heidi Hutner in Back Matter
- Nobody's Story: The Vanishing Acts of Women Writers in the Marketplace, 1670-1820 (New Historicism-Studies in Cultural Poetics, No. 31) by Catherine Gallagher on page 66
See all 9 books citing this book
What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
 |
85% buy the item featured on this page: Oroonoko, The Rover, and Other Works (Penguin Classics)$8.57 |
 |
6% buy The Rover and Other Plays (Oxford World's Classics) $9.31 |
 |
4% buy Love in Excess $16.19 |
 |
3% buy Oroonoko (Norton Critical Editions) $12.50 |
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet. Create your own review
| |||
Video reviews
|
Customer Discussions
Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
|
This product's forum
(0 discussions)
Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Active discussions in related forums
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Information from the Amapedia Community
Beta (What's this?)Be the first person to add an article about this item at Amapedia.com.
› See featured Amapedia.com articles
So You'd Like to...
Look for Similar Items by Category
- Books > Foreign Language Books > French
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( B ) > Behn, Aphra
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Classics
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Essays
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Foreign Language Fiction > French
- Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Movements & Periods
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Short Stories
- Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > British
- Books > New & Used Textbooks > Humanities > Literature
Don't Slip and Slide Keep your walkways safe and clear of snow and ice using the HeatTrak heated walkway. |
Summer Reading for Kids & Teens |
Bestsellers in Home ImprovementUpdated hourly
|
||||||||||||||
|
Your Recent History
(What's this?)|
You have no recently viewed items or searches.
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session. |
Continue shopping: Top Sellers
| ||||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
