Ian Discussion 1A
Notes from 2/26/08 lecture
- What is interesting about this text is that it is often read as an anti-slavery work since it is a novel about an African slave written by a white woman
- A deeper reading suggests that Behn is making a deeper argument on the grounds of class and politics over race
- Behn focuses on the African slave and turns him into her ideal being for all of mankind
- While in the process of creating this ideal being Behn strips Oroonoko of his African features and replaces them with European features pg. 2186
- Rather than focusing on race, Behn makes politics and class the basis of her novel by recognizing Oroonoko as royalty and describing him as having a kingly stature
- Oroonoko does not represent the African nation because he is different from other slaves, his royal background allows him to remain separate from the slaves as his class becomes the focus
- When Oroonoko gets to the western hemisphere he is not treated as a normal slave; when he arrives his slave name becomes Caesar and he is treated more so like a governor
- What matters most is his individual bearing or “royal stature” versus him being African pg. 2225 and 2226
- Behn does not use her novel to belittle classes rather she uses it to send the message that we should listen to the king no matter what his situation; this is illustrated in the killing of Oroonoko
- For Behn, it is terrible that lowly men get a hold of a royal slave and demolish him and not so much the issue of the brutality that happens to all slaves during slavery
- Also important to point out that Behn’s novel reflected the current situation with the monarch during that time period
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