Oroonoko Explored
Dramatic Tragedy
Another significant source that Behn draws from in the creation of her story is the dramatic tragedy. As one reads the novel, its brevity defies normal conventions for the much longer, and more descriptive, romance literature. Instead, the pacing of the work is grounded in dramatic elements that would adapt easily to the stage. Indeed, this was done by the story of Oroonoko multiple times, showing that its genre hybridity comes in large part due to its dramatic elements. Even though there are multiple ways in which Oroonoko fits the dramatic tragedy, let us examine two significant moments in the work.
Oroonoko: A Tragedy by Thomas Southern
The first is Oroonoko’s very powerful and moving speech that he gives to his fellow slaves, arousing their anger and spirits against their inhuman servitude. “Do you not hear every Day how they upbraid each other with infamy of life, below the wildest of savages, and shall we render obedience to such a degenerate race, who have no one Humane Vertue left… Will you, I say, suffer the Lash from such Hands? (Behn 52-53)” This kind of moving rhetoric, spoken by an African prince given the name Caesar, recalls all the dramatic speeches given by the playwrights of antiquity that Shakespeare and other early modern playwrights emulated. The second major dramatic element is found in the end of the story, where Oroonoko kills his love Imoinda, and then follows her in death after an excruciating execution. This ending encapsulates the very idea of the tragedy, where ideal lovers are denied a happy future with each other, often due to circumstances which feel quite cruel to the audience.