Behn Quotes

"Each moment of a happy lover's hour is worth an age of dull and common life."


"Love ceases to be a pleasure when it ceases to be a secret."

"That perfect tranquillity of life, which is nowhere to be found but in retreat, a faithful friend and a good library."


"No friend to Love like a long voyage at sea."

"Faith, sir, we are here today, and gone tomorrow"

Bibliography

http://classiclit.about.com/library/weekly/aa020600e.htm

http://web.utk.edu/~misty/Behnhandout.html

http://www.lit-arts.net/Behn/begin-ab.htm

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/aphra_behn.html

About BEHN

Very little is known for sure about Aphra Behn's life. Most of what historians know about her life is through her writings and when they were published. what we do know is that her father was lieutenant general of Surinam, a British colony. This was the setting for her later work Oroonoko. Although there was some controversy as to whether or not she actually resided there, the descriptions of Surnam in Oroonoko were so accurate that it justifies this suggestion.
She visited there with her family from 1663-1664 until her father died and she returned to London. She supposedly married Mr. Behn, who was suspected to be a Dutch merchant in England, but their marriage was a short one as he died two years later. There is no actual evidence of her marraige and Behn leaves no remarks of being married. We know no more about her marriage If she infact had one, but that after this time she did not remarry.
She became an English spy in Antwerp where she was to get information From William Scott who was in Surinam at the same time she was and who she is romantically linked. She ended up making very little money and was thrown in jail for a short period of time for debts owing. According to the English Translation of Pierre Bayle's dictionary, she "seems to have been accquainted with the greatest wits of her time, some of whom have honored her with encomiums, as Mr. Dryden, Mr. Southerne, Mr. Charles cotton and others.Her first play was The Forced Marriage (1670) which was very successful. It is presumed that she had made friends with Thomas Betterton, who belonged to a theatre company at Lincoln's Inn Fields and he played the lead in her first play The Forced Marriage. This was introduced at the Dorset Garden Theare. He is also said to have palyed Belville in The Rover. (Thomas Betterton)
Her second play The Amorus Prince was also successful and very original. However, The Rover doesn't seem to be quite so original. She is said to have taken many of the characters and ideas from a play by Thomas Killigrew's play Thomaso. (Thomas Killigrew)
SheHer last play, The Widow Ranter (1689), was largely unsuccessful, but based on her experiences in the New World. Behn was the first professional writer in England. She became famous for many of her palys. Many of the prefaces to her plays talk about the unequal education of women. The Theme of arranged marriages and the mistreatment of women in her first play resonated throught the entirety of her works. As she was a largely succesful and independant woman, she was able to criticise society for it's mistreatment of women.

Plot Summary of "THE ROVER"

The Rover

The original full title, The Rover, or The Banish 'd Cavaliers, indicates that the play may have been a tribute to the formerly exiled cavalier and newly reinstated king, Charles II.
This play was set in Naples, Italy during the Carnival. It surrounds two sisters Hellena and Florinda. Florinda is the sister who is in the middle of a predicament of being forced to marry. Her potential suitors are Don Vincentia, an older rich man or her brother Pedro’s friend Antonio, for whom she also has no affection. Neither of these prospects seem like good suitors. Helena is the other sister. She is also in somewhat of a fix. She is bound for a convent which is not unusual. Most of the time the first born girl is married off to a land owner to secure some sort of fortune and the second sister is often just sent to a convent. Hellena however is not particularily the convent type. She wants to experience life and love. She sets out to do this at the carnivale. These two sisters are desperate to go to the carnivale and dress up like gypsies in order to go and not be recognized by their brother Pedro. Florinda has already met Belville at some previous time and knows that she would chose him above all others to be her husband. He feels the same about her. In the meantime, Hellena meets Willmore, who seems charming to her and she falls for him. He on the other hand, meets Angellica Bianca, a very beautiful and highly paid prostitute. He sees her and they end up in bed together where he charms her into thinking that he is madly in love with her and will stay with her forever. During this time, Florinda and Belville have set a time ot run off together. She waits for him outside the garden, when Willmore shows up and tries to seduce/rape her. This doesn't happen but later after a series of events brought on by mistaken identity, she again is almost raped by Blunt who after being humiliated and robbed by Lucetta vows to "use all womankind thereafter". this is stopped as Florinda gives to Frederick and Blunt a diamond to show she is of quality. They dare not to rape a woman of quality but feel that it acceptable to rape a harlot. Now, Hellena and Willmore meet up again and she hears him talk about his night with Angellica. She eventually forgives him for sleeping with the prostitute if she promised never to see her again. He says he will comply and Angellica overhears and is distraught as she has falllen for him. She gets very upset and pulls a gun on him in a jealous rage. Antonio intervens. Willmore blames his making vows to her on her intense beauty. During all of this Pedro has arranged for Florinda to marry Antoino the following day. Antonio and Pedro end up fighting and Antonio wins. Pedro gives him consent to have his sister, yet Antonio is actually Belville in disguise. there are some small duels and loose ends are tied up. The ending is a happy one for most everyone involved. The rover of the title could be Willmore as he has many parallels to Charles II, whose adventures during his twenty-year exile from England were renowned at that time. It is said that Charles II enjoyed the play so much that he commissioned a private viewing of it.
The theme of her first play, loveless and unhappy marriages in arranged by families in The Forced Marriage reoccurs throughout Behn's work. Through her works, she concerned herself with the fate of women in her own society. This gives us the readers a glimpse into the life a struggling woman in the late 17th century. This particular work deals with three kinds of women. Women in relation to marriage, convents and prostitutes. This story is not only an attack on women's roles in society, but also makes anti-semetic references and small recognition to the Inquisition.

Paintings of Behn

Chronology of Behn's Life

1640 -- Birth of Aphra Johnson, second daughter of Bartholomew Johnson and Elizabeth Denham, baptized Dec. 14 at Harbledown outside of Canterbury. (Although there has been much controversy over the circumstances of Behn's birth, this appears to be the most likely candidate.)
1663-64 -- Probable period of residence in Surinam.
1664 -- Possible date for marriage to Mr. Behn, merchant of "Dutch" (German) extraction.
1665 -- Death of Mr. Behn?
1667-67 -- Aphra Behn serves in Antwerp as a spy for Charles II.
1668 -- Sent to debtor's prison for debts she incurred in the service of the crown. Probably released shortly thereafter.
1670 -- Production of Behn's first play, The Forced Marriage, at Lincoln's Inn Fields by the Duke's Company. It was a great success and ran for six nights, providing its author with two nights' income. (The "third day" always belonged to the author of the play.)
1671 -- February - The Amourous Prince (published 1671); Dorset Garden Theater opened.
1672 -- Covent Garden Drollery published, probably edited by Behn.
1673 -- The Dutch Lover produced at Dorset Garden Theater; does not hold the stage until the third day (not published until 1677).

(The Duke's Theatre, Dorset Garden)


1675 -- Possible plays by Behn: The Revenge: Or a Match in Newgate, and The Woman Turned Bully.
1676 -- Behn's only tragedy, Abdelazer, produced in the summer. It was followed a few months later by The Town Fop (both published 1677).
1677 -- The Rover, perhaps Behn's most successful play, produced in March and published the same year. Nell Gwyn returned to the stage to play the role of the whore Angelica Bianca.

(Nell Gwyn)

Two further plays produced at Dorset Garden attributed to Behn, The Debauchee (February) and The Counterfeit Bridegroom (September).
1678 -- Sir Patient Fancy produced in January (published 1678). Nell Gwyn once again took a role, that of Lady Knowell.
1679 -- The Feigned Courtesans, dedicated to Nell Gwyn, produced in the spring at Dorset Garden (published 1679) and the tragi-comedy The Young King in the fall (published 1683).
1681 -- The Second Part of The Rover produced early in the year (published 1681), The False Count in November and The Roundheads in December (both published 1682).
1682 -- The City Heiress produced in the spring, (published 1682) followed by Like Father, Like Son, which was such a failure that it was never published and has since been lost. Behn arrested for an "abusive" prologue, but probably let off with a warning. Merger of the the King's Company and the Duke's Company (where Behn's plays were produced) to form the United Company.
1683 -- Publication of the first part of Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister, an epistolary roman à clef, the first major epistolary novel in English literature.
1684 -- Behn's Poems on Several Occasions published.
1685 -- Another collection of poems, Miscellany, published. Death of Charles II; accession of his brother James II.
1686 -- Publication of The Lover's Watch. The Lucky Chance, Behn's first play since the failure of Like Father Like Son, produced at Drury Lane

(The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane)> (Inside View)

1687 -- Her farce The Emperor of the Moon produced in March and published the same year.
1688 -- Three prose fiction works by Behn published: The Fair Jilt, Agnes de Castro and her most famous work, Oroonoko. Abdication of James II ("Glorious Revolution").
1689 -- Death of Aphra Behn, April 16. Buried in Westminster Abbey. Two of her plays produced posthumously: The Widow Ranter (1689 - epilogue by John Dryden) and The Younger Brother (1696).

(Westminter Abbey)