Aphra behn

Aphra Behn was an English writer from the 17th century. She was considered to be the female professional pioneer in English literature. Before she entered the world of literacy she was a spy, but left that world and needed support for her family which drove her to writing. It is strongly believed that her background for writing the fictional novel “Oronooko” was of firsthand experience while being a spy in Surinam. Other than Aphra being a woman herself, there is much evidence that lead us to know that Aphra’s texts have indeed been written by a woman and not by a male writer. An example of Aphra’s female pen is the narrative voice in the novel “Oronooko”. The mere fact that the narrative voice in “Oronooko” is a woman doesn’t give away that it’s been written by a woman, but the feeling does. In the beginning of the novel we have the female voice describing Oronooko’s physical aspect. The female voice of the novel describes Oronooko as a perfect man or more like the perfect lover. Each description that is used emphases on Oronooko’s physical aspect as if it was as important as his personality. Adjectives such as: “piercing” eyes, “perfect ebony, or polished jet” skin, “rising and Roman” nose, “finest shaped “ lips, are used to create Oronooko’s character from a woman to women. It’s as if the narrator knew exactly what women like and wanted in a man, because it’s indeed a woman behind these descriptions. On top of being too precise with Oronooko’s description, the female voice comments that Oronooko is a white man with dark skin. Besides Oronooko’s physical descriptions, we have that the female voice also describes Oronooko’s personality. The words that are used to describe Oronooko’s personality are so masculine and heroic to a woman’s point of view, but it could be arguably that a man could find them a bit too much for a man. Oronooko’s personality is being describe as “gallant” and a man of “delicate virtues” and further on the reading the narrators