Oroonoko Explored
Narrative Agenda
Behn pulls from a great deal of different kinds of genres and styles to flesh out her account of Oroonoko. Even though this is true, the motivation of her story feels less complicated than the multiple artistic genres that she weaves together to reach her purpose. The book idealizes Oroonoko as a noble prince who is wrongly prevented from being able to take his proper throne. Even though the story of Oroonoko centers on an African prince who is tricked into slavery, one has to consider Behn’s thoughts on kingship. During the writing of this story, Behn and other loyal supports of the English monarchy could see that trouble was brewing for King James II. Indeed, James II had few powerful Protestant supporters, and his attempts to introduce tolerance for Catholicism backfired. Behn’s novel demonstrates a royal figure whose qualities are above reproach, and whose qualities stem at least in some part from his royal heritage.
"Aphra Behn" by Sir Peter Lely
The story takes place in 1664, and yet Behn published this novel in 1688, the very year in which James II fled the kingdom shortly after Prince William of Orange landed his army on the shores of England. Her novel argues that kings are noble figures and should be respected and followed, and those that tear down a king’s rightful position are just as evil as the men who betrayed Oroonoko. Though at first glance this work might appear as argument against plantation slavery, a closer analysis demonstrates that Behn does not regard most of the African slaves with any special humanity, but instead shows how they turned on their leader after the rebellion failed. If anything, this book does not explicitly combat the idea of slavery, but rather that slavery should only be relegated to social inferiors, and that it is a great injustice to bring a noble king down to a lower level than nature had intended (Richards 650).