Oroonoko Explored
Oriental Motifs
Another major element that contributes significantly towards Behn’s writing of Oroonoko is the use of common Oriental motifs and settings. The story begins in Africa, and even though the exotic idea of the Orient is certainly brought to life in Oroonoko’s adventures in Surinam, there is much of the Orient in both Oroonoko’s West African kingdom of Coramntien and in the very setting of the narrative. As a West African kingdom, Cormantien is not far in distance nor in culture to the ways of the north African kingdoms, which in turn share much with the rest of the Middle East. The physical setting is in Africa, and yet those familiar with powerful middle eastern and Oriental kingdoms will recognize significant parallels in the court of Coramantien.
Cover of Edward Said's Orientalism
Though born to inherit the kingdom, eventually, from his grandfather the king, Oroonoko has spent little time at court, and Behn most likely emphasizes this distance to demonstrate why Oroonoko was raised with honorable virtues, ones which are somewhat contrary to life at court. Some of these non-virtuous practices include the king taking any women he likes for himself, or his older women having affairs with nobles at court. As Chi-ming Yang points out in her article “Asia Out of Place” the “initial plight of the star-crossed lovers in the setting of an African seraglio unfolds as an oriental-tale romance, replete with the stock figures: a despotic king who desires a beautiful young courtesan, a shining, love sick prince, and a royal court with all its splendor and intrigue (Yang 238).” Even though the relationship between Oroonoko and Imoinda help to ground the story in the vein of heroic romance literature, the first half of the story relies on common themes found in oriental literature.