Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn lived from 1640 to 1689. After John Dryden, she was the most prolific dramatist of the Restoration, and considered to be the first professional woman writer.
She was born at Wye, England, July 10, 1640, the daughter, it is said, of a barber. As a child, she went out to Dutch Guiana, then an English colony named after the Surinam River, returning to England about 1658. After the death of her husband, in 1666, she was dispatched as a spy to Antwerp by Charles II., and it was she who first warned that monarch of the Dutch Government's intention to send a fleet up the Thames. She died on April 16, 1689, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. It was while in Dutch Guiana that she met Oroonoko, in the circumstances described in the story of the same name. No doubt she has idealised her hero somewhat, but she does not seem to have exaggerated the extraordinary adventures of the young African chief.
Her major works include Oroonoko; or The Royal Slave and The Rover; or The Banish'd Cavaliers.
Some of Aphra Behn's less-known works are available from the Women Writers Project.
External link
The above-mentioned works are available at http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/b/behn/
Referenced By
14 December | 14th December | 1601 in literature | 1602 in literature | 1603 in literature | 1604 in literature | 1605 in literature | 1606 in literature | 1607 in literature | 1608 in literature | 1609 in literature | 1610 in literature | 1611 in literature | 1612 in literature | 1613 in literature | 1614 in literature | 1615 in literature | 1616 in literature | 1617 in literature | 1618 in literature | 1619 in literature | 1620 in literature | 1621 in literature | 1622 in literature | 1623 in literature | 1624 in literature | 1625 in literature | 1626 in literature | 1627 in literature | 1628 in literature | 1629 in literature | 1630 in literature | 1631 in literature | 1632 in literature | 1633 in literature | 1634 in literature | 1635 in literature | 1636 in literature | 1637 in literature | 1638 in literature | 1639 in literature | 1640 in literature | 1641 in literature | 1642 in literature | 1643 in literature | 1644 in literature | 1645 in literature | 1646 in literature | 1647 in literature | 1648 in literature | 1649 in literature | 1650 in literature | 1651 in literature | 1652 in literature | 1653 in literature | 1654 in literature | 1655 in literature | 1656 in literature | 1657 in literature | 1658 in literature | 1659 in literature | 1660 in literature | 1661 in literature | 1662 in literature | 1663 in literature | 1664 in literature | 1665 in literature | 1666 in literature | 1667 in literature | 1668 in literature | 1669 in literature | 1670 in literature | 1671 in literature | 1672 in literature | 1673 in literature | 1674 in literature | 1675 in literature | 1676 in literature | 1677 in literature | 1678 in literature | 1679 in literature | 1680 in literature | 1681 in literature | 1682 in literature | 1683 in literature | 1684 in literature | 1685 in literature | 1686 in literature | 1687 in literature | 1688 in literature | 1689 in literature | 1690 in literature | 1691 in literature | 1692 in literature | 1693 in literature | 1694 in literature | 1695 in literature | 1696 in literature | 1697 in literature | 1698 in literature ...
|
