Question 1

Who was Aphra Behn and how did she mark literary history?

Accepted Answer

Aphra Behn (1640-1689) was the first English woman to earn her living by writing, a true pioneer. What you need to remember is that she made a name for herself in a theatrical and literary world that was exclusively male at the time, under the reign of Charles II during the English Restoration. Unlike her female contemporaries who published anonymously or under a pseudonym, she signed her works with her own name, loudly and proudly claiming the right to write about the same subjects as men. Her historical importance lies as much in her talent as in her audacity: she paved the way for future generations of women writers.

Question 2

What is Aphra Behn's major work and why is it so important?

Accepted Answer

Her masterpieces are the play The Rover (1677), a triumph on the London stage, and the novel Oroonoko (1688). What makes Oroonoko decisive is that it is considered one of the earliest anti-slavery texts in English literature. It tells the story of an African prince enslaved in Surinam, a colony Behn had visited. What is often forgotten is that this novel influenced the development of the epistolary and sentimental novel in the 18th century, and it anticipates the debates on freedom and humanity that would run through the Enlightenment.

Question 3

Why is it said that Aphra Behn was a spy?

Accepted Answer

In 1666, at the height of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, Behn was sent to Antwerp by King Charles II himself under the code name 'Astrea'. Her mission: to monitor the Dutch navy's plans. What is striking here is that she was a woman alone in enemy territory, an exceptional situation for the time. Despite providing valuable reports, the Crown never reimbursed her expenses, and she nearly ended up in debtors' prison upon her return. This experience as a spy fueled her writing and gave her a knowledge of power circles that few writers possessed.

Question 4

What was a typical day like for Aphra Behn in London?

Accepted Answer

Picture a life driven by writing and theater. In the morning, Behn would rise early in her lodgings in Covent Garden to quietly revise her manuscripts. In the afternoon, she would attend rehearsals at the Duke's Theatre or Dorset Garden Theatre, discuss with actors, and negotiate with managers. She also frequented the neighborhood cafés, true literary salons where poets and satirists mingled. In the evening, she would attend performances, sometimes in the king's presence, then join lively suppers before returning home to write late by candlelight. Less a bohemian life than hard work to earn a living.

Question 5

What everyday objects were essential to her work as a writer?

Accepted Answer

The quill pen and inkwell were her basic tools, as for any author of the 17th century. What is particular about Behn is that she also used coded letters during her spy missions, with code names like 'Astrea'. Theater manuscripts circulated before being copied for actors, and she produced nineteen of them. Finally, tallow candles were crucial: she spent a significant part of her income to light her writing nights. Each object tells a story of material constraint and creative audacity.

Question 6

What does the term 'Restoration' mean in the context of Aphra Behn?

Accepted Answer

The Restoration refers to the English period beginning in 1660 with the return to the throne of Charles II after eleven years of republican Commonwealth under Cromwell. What you need to remember is that this era saw the reopening of theaters, closed by the Puritans, and an unprecedented cultural boom. Behn's plays, with their cavalier heroes and libertine intrigues, embody this spirit of regained freedom. Understanding this term means grasping the political and social context that allowed a woman like Behn to flourish in letters.

Question 7

What famous anecdote illustrates Aphra Behn's audacity in the face of critics?

Accepted Answer

The preface to her play The Lucky Chance (1686) is a true manifesto. Behn replies to critics who reproach her audacity by claiming the 'privilege for my masculine part, the Poet in me' to explore so-called masculine subjects. The key to the episode is that she threatens to 'lay down her pen' if she is denied this freedom, but she continues to write with even more vigor. This anecdote shows how she turns attacks into a literary weapon, asserting that talent has no gender.

Question 8

What place is associated with the memory of Aphra Behn today?

Accepted Answer

She is buried in the cloister of Westminster Abbey in London, a rare honor for a woman of letters at the time. What is moving is that more than two centuries later, Virginia Woolf in A Room of One's Own (1929) would write that 'all women who write owe flowers to her grave'. This place thus becomes a symbol of the posthumous recognition of her pioneering role. It reminds us that Behn opened a breach in a literary world that was then almost exclusively male.

Question 9

How did Aphra Behn use pamphlets to defend her ideas?

Accepted Answer

The pamphlet, a widely circulated short printed text, was the main vector of public debate in the 17th century. Behn used it to respond to her detractors and defend women's right to write and be paid. What is often forgotten is that she did not just react: she went on the offensive, blending irony and political arguments. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she did not hide behind anonymity but signed her pamphlets, making her pen a weapon in the public sphere.

Question 10

What connection exists between Aphra Behn's life and the Glorious Revolution of 1688?

Accepted Answer

Oroonoko was published in 1688, the year of the Glorious Revolution which overthrew James II and established a constitutional monarchy under William of Orange. What makes this parallel interesting is that the novel, which denounces slavery and the arbitrariness of power, resonates with the ideals of political freedom emerging at that time. Behn, a staunch royalist, did not live long enough to see the consequences of this revolution, but her work anticipates the debates on human rights that would mark the Age of Enlightenment. Less a coincidence than a historical convergence.

Aphra Behn(1640 — 1689)

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