Contents:

Introduction ......................................................................................................2

0.1. Aphra Behn’s biography.........................................................................3

0.2. Oroonoko: or the Royal Slave................................................................4

1 Colonialism and Slavery...............................................................................6

2 Destroying Identity......................................................................................17

3 Suriname......................................................................................................28

Conclusion.......................................................................................................37

Resume............................................................................................................39

Bibliography....................................................................................................40

Appendix.........................................................................................................42

1
INTRODUCTION

“All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, for it was she
who earned them the right to speak their minds.”
Virginia Woolf

The aim of the thesis is to analyze Aphra Behn’s most significant work, which is a
short novel based on her alleged visit to Suriname called Oroonoko, or the Royal Slave. As
the title suggests, the story is about the slave trade, slaves, Negroes and colonialism. It
explores the land which had been taken over by the European colonists. The thesis also
portrays the relationships among all the presented parties – the indigenous people, the slaves
and the colonists – and the way it influenced their life, mental state and culture. Moreover, it
investigates Behn’s ideals and the level of her independence from the restrictions of the
ordinary view of her society.
The thesis is divided into three main chapters. These form the three standpoints from
which the novel will be analyzed.
The first chapter called Colonialism and Slavery focuses on the main aspects of the
British view of Imperialism and Colonialism, studies its history and colonists themselves as
presented in the novel. Furthermore, it examines the slave trade, slaves and their living
conditions in the British colonies.
The second chapter – Destroying Identity, is more psychological or sociological as it
runs into the problem of removing slaves from their homeland, renaming them, separating
families, taking all the possession they had. This part of the thesis simply considers one of the
most inhumane features of slavery.
The third viewpoint, Suriname, investigates the validity of Behn’s stay in Suriname. It
explores not only nature of the place and the geographical facts but it also centres on the
relationship between the natives and the colonists. This chapter puts forward a hypothesis that
this novel could simply be a travel narrative and thus helped the Europeans to learn more
about the New World.
Every chapter is supplemented with visual material that illustrates the whole system of
the slavery and it also brings closer the authentic place.

2
0.1 Aphra Behn’s biography

With the words above Virginia Woolf ends her thoughts about Aphra Behn as one of
the major forerunner of the following generations of women writers. Mrs. Behn was the first
to earn her living by writing in the Restoration England. This period was full of significant
changes in the political system, social conventions, sexual mores and, indeed, views on
women writers.
It is generally known that the status of women in the past was very poor. The view
commonly held was that “You either marry or die”. In the highly patriarchal society was
scarcely a place for woman of such a mind as Mrs. Behn’s was:

Before the twentieth century, the only “career” open to most women was marriage. A middle-
class or upper-class woman from the seventeenth to the twentieth century who was left for some
reason unsupported had an enormous difficulty until very recently in earning a living, unless she
happened to be a burgeois widow of a tradesman or craftsman who could take over her husband’s
business. The choice for most women who could not be absorbed into a family as an extra pair of
hands, were teaching children, as a governess or in a school, or needlework of some kind, which was
so poorly paid as to be virtually a slow route to starvation, and prostitution. No professions of any kind
were open to women. (Stevenson 1993: 34)

This is undeniably the situation Aphra Behn could possibly be coping with. Although
her life story is still a mystery undeciphered by the literary critics and biographers, some of
the clues to her life may be found and thus help to reconstruct the author’s life story. There is
no clear evidence of her parents’ identity, her upbringing, her education and her marriage
because in the course of the centuries her biography has been turned upside down leaving
readers more puzzled than her contemporaries. The question that arises is whether or not it is
of a crucial importance to know the precise details of her controversial life. She allegedly was
a spy who turned into a writer and so much more. She had the courage to step out of the shade
that was cast by men on women who could only be virtuous wives to their husbands with no
rights to raise their voice or express their attitudes and feelings. Aphra Behn had to survive
and she dared do what most women in the seventeenth century would not even think about.
Virginia Woolf depicts Behn’s bravery brilliantly in her famous essay A Room of One’s own:

Mrs Behn was a middle-class woman with all the plebeian virtues of humour, vitality and
courage; a woman forced by the death of her husband and some unfortunate adventures of her own to
make her living by her wits. She had to work on equal terms with men. She made, by working very
hard, enough to live on. The importance of that fact outweights anything that she actually wrote, even
the splendid “A Thousands Martyrs I have made”, or “Love in Fantastic Triumph sat”, for here begins
the freedom of the mind, or rather the possibility that in the course of time the mind will be free to

3
write what it likes. For now that Aphra Behn had done it, girls could go to their parents and say, You
need not give me an allowence; I can make money by my pen. Of course the answer for many years to
come was, Yes, by living the life of Aphra Behn! Death would be better! and the door was slammed
faster than ever. (Woolf 1929: 58)

Aphra Behn took a pen that was lying on her desk and in spite of the prejudices of the
highly patriarchal society started writing publicly and caused the avalanche of women writers
ever since the eighteenth century. Bookshops are now full of average, good or extraordinary
fictions or poetry written by women. What is more, Mrs. Behn has influenced many male
authors and this impact must be partly attributed to her deliberate stress on “My Masculine
Part the Poet in me”. (Spencer 2000: 265)
Aphra Behn started as the author of one of the most popular Restoration comedies, she
influenced British theatre as her audience extremely loved her plays, which were amusing and
witty. In her final years, she wrote more poetry and fiction. She was very famous in her time
but later largely forgotten. In more recent years, her work has been rediscovered and
reevaluated by many critics. As has been already noted by Virginia Woolf, she commenced
her professional career in order to survive. Despite all the fame and attention she received, her
personal life must have been very unhappy and spiritually deprived as Janet Todd points out:

Yet, despite its surface glamour and glitter, most of Behn’s life was spent in the drudgery of
writing and keeping creditors at bay – almost all her letters concern money and her pressing need for
it. Although she wrote of and to aristocrats, her own social lot was always a mixture of shame and
fame. Her class and sex kept her an outsider from circles such as the court and some aristocratic
coteries, which she dearly wanted to penetrate. (www.chawton.org)

0.2 Oroonoko: or the Royal Slave

Oroonoko is the name of a black hero who falls in love with a black beauty Imoinda.
Unfortunately, Oroonoko´s grandfather, the king of Coromantien, has a strong desire for the
very young girl as well. The conflict between the two men soon arises and Imoinda is sold as
a slave. Oroonoko, ignorant of this fact, thinks that Imoinda is dead, returns back to his people
and suffers from a serious depression. It takes only six months and Oroonoko is deceived by a
captain of an English ship and is taken as a slave to Guyana, where he is unexpectedly
reunited with his lover. There he rebels against the colonists and inspires a slave’s revolt in
order to seek freedom. He is not fortunate and is captured and beaten by the English slave-
owners. Oroonoko kills his wife with an unborn baby and is executed for the murder at the
end of the story.

4
 This novel belongs to one of the first realistic narratives in English literature. At that
time, this genre had been slowly developing. Despite many imperfections, Behn’s work is full
of courageous novelties. She introduces a black and enslaved hero into the white and
European society and thus helpes to create the image of the ‘noble savage’ in literature.
Temporal development influences her protagonists as well. Paul Salzman in his introduction
to Oroonoko and Other Writings says: “The story is remarkable both for Behn’s critical
analysis of the slave trade and depiction of native morality and Christian hypocrisy, and for
his philosophical content. First published in 1688, it was Behn’s most popular work from a
very early stage in its history.” (Salzman 1994: X)
There have been many disputes over this piece of work such as its validity as an
autobiographical account, her narrative ability, her attitude towards slavery and colonialism,
or whether it was a purely emancipatory text or not. The narrator does not have a name and
Behn’s declaration about her experiencing the story at the beginning of the novel gets readers
perplexed by this unresolved situation. The narrator only describes what she sees, what she
had learned and then tells the story but her readership does not learn much about her
appearance. The language she uses is very plain lacking any rhetorical devices. (www.lit-
arts.net) Aphra Behn states many historical facts, she talks about the political issues and these
tactics might have helped to promote her intentions to autobiographical account. Whether or
not the narrator equals the author is not crucial to the story. As the century went on, the image
of the author became unimportant because Oroonoko’s fame overtook it. There is no doubt
whatsoever that Oroonoko was widely read as an anti-slavery novel and reached its peak in
the period when anti-slavery movement began to intensify.

5
 1. COLONIALISM AND SLAVERY

O, where has mother gone, papa?

What makes you look so sad?
Why sit you here alone, papa?
Has anyone made you mad?
O, tell me, dear papa.
Has master punished you again?
Shall I go bring the salt, papa,
To rub your back and cure the pain?
W. H. Robinson

Aphra Behn as a very controversial and fruitful author of the seventeenth century
England wrote a novel that addressed the problem of the slave trade and on the basis of a
romantic story analysed the terrifying aspects of the slave’s life. She managed to produce a
powerful account of slavery and demonstrate its effect on both sides, thus making a huge
impression on her audience. It was in her lifetime that the slave trade was slowly increasing in
England. It is known that England was the most backward of the European nations which
began to cross the Atlantic and colonising the New Continent. It was not until the wealth and
support of the rising middle class of English society that the colonisation movement could
succeed. It is interesting that this support came in the first half of the seventeenth century and,
what is more, English investors were particularly interested in the quick profits of sugar
cultivation in the West Indies. By this time Europeans were quickly developing an insatiable
thirst for sweetness. Sugar became one of the first luxuries that was sought for the European
diet. It must have been in this period that Mrs. Behn allegedly went to Suriname, together
with the first English colonisers.
The story of Oroonoko’s life opens with the description of the sugar plantations and
the people who worked there: ”Those then whom we make use of to work in our plantations
of sugar are negroes, black slaves altogether, which are transported thither in this manner.” (9)
The narrator very often switches between two pronouns of ‘we’ and ‘they’. One of the reasons
of the narrative shift is to create a sense of neutrality towards Oroonoko. The narrator
struggles for power and sometimes she associates herself with the dominant power of the
British colonials and at other times she distances herself from the deeds of the colonists and
aligns herself with Oroonoko and his story. However, the contradictory use of pronouns

6
differs according to what the narrator refers to as it will be shown throughout the text. In this
particular sentence she allies herself with the colonists and shows no further interest in the life
of the slaves. She might have even felt superior to the ordinary colonists as her father should
have become lieutenant general in Suriname.
Nevertheless, the narrator meets Oroonoko and he changes her view of the whole slave
trade system and inspires her to conserve the story for many generations to come. After
meeting the Prince Oroonoko, the narrator learns about the life of Africans and their own
system of slavery:

Coromantien, a country of blacks so called, was one of those places in which they
found the most advantageous trading for these slaves, and thither most of our great traders in
that merchandise trafficked, for that nation is very warlike and brave and, having a continual
campaign, being always in hostility with one neighbouring prince or other, they had the
fortune to take a great many captives, for all they took in battle were sold as slaves; at least,
those common men who could not ransom themselves. Of these slaves so taken, the general
only has all the profit and of these generals, our captains and masters of ships buy all their
freights. (9)

Mrs. Behn finds this information very interesting and therefore runs into details in her
description of the customs of slavery in Africa. It may be argued that this fact had already
been known in Europe but if it were so she would probably not have spent so much time with
such precise details. It must also be mentioned that the narrator proclaims to have been in a
hurry when writing this novel and as she adds: “for I never rested my pen a moment for
thought” (5), she must have only included the parts that were relevant to the story and to her
idea of familiarization her audience with the differences between the slavery in Africa and the
slavery in America.
When Oroonoko comes back from the wars he visits his foster father’s daughter
Imoinda to make excuses because her father died in order to save Oroonoko’s life “and to
present her with those slaves that had been taken in this last battle, as the trophies of her
father’s victories.” (13) As this sentence shows, it was quite common to have slaves, who
were taken in battles, and bring them to the winning tribe. However, those slaves were treated
as humans and they had some rights and status in the tribe’s society. Their position was
limited for a certain period of time, rather than confined to degraded agricultural labour.
(Nash 1982)
Indeed, for centuries African societies had been involved in an overland slave trade
that transported black slaves from West Africa across the Sahara Desert to Roman Europe and

7
the Middle East. When the Europeans reached West Africa, it was an opportunity for the
African sellers to make contracts with a new and more commercial partner and thus some of
the captives were sold as slaves to the European slave traders and the native generals made
profits. (Nash 1982)
After another battle, Oroonoko captured a young warrior Jamoan, who later became
very dear to him “so that he never put him amongst the rank of captives, as they used to do,
without distinction, for the common sale or market, but kept him in his own court”. (31) As
Park summarizes in his observations:

It has often been pointed out that slavery already existed among the tribes themselves and that
a considerable proportion of Africans were used to it and had in fact been born into it. It may be
doubted, however, if substantial numbers of these slaves came to America, for apparently the native
chiefs tended to sell only their war captives to the Europeans and to keep their hereditary and
customary slaves – together with their most docile captives – for themselves. (Park: In Elkins (1959):
98)

Oroonoko was one of the generals who was trafficking with the traders and enjoyed
the business very much. “Another reason was he loved when he came from war to see all the
English gentlemen that traded thither, and did not only learn their language, but that of the
Spaniards also, with whom he traded afterwards for slaves.” (11) The Prince Oroonoko as it
can be seen was very well-educated and knew many European languages. He felt very
comfortable in the company of the traders and did not fear them.
For Behn’s purpose, however, Oroonoko had to be virtuous and his trading activities
could be a dirty spot on his character. She, therefore, flatters him throughout the novel and
makes him appeal to the European audience. It was crucial for Behn to give Oroonoko some
of the qualities that the Europeans would appreciate. Such was the case with his education. It
seems highly unlikely that an African native would be so experienced. Oroonoko was only a
seventeen-year-old young man leading rather busy life as a warrior, nevertheless, he was able
to communicate in English, French and Spanish. He knew all about the history of England
and the Romans and was very civil in his manners. “He had nothing of barbarity in his nature,
but in all points addressed himself as if his education had been in some European court.” (11)
To make his romantic features more probable Mrs. Behn had to invent somebody that would
teach and guide the Prince. It was a French man, who surprisingly does not even have a name,
perhaps so that he could not be traced by historians. The reader learns a little about him but
his position in the novel is very crucial as it helps to mould Oroonoko’s image from the very
beginning:

8
 Some part of it we may attribute to the care of a French man of wit and learning, who finding
it turn to very good account to be a sort of royal tutor to this young black, and perceiving him very
ready, apt, and quick of apprehension, took a great pleasure to teach him morals, language and
science, and was for it extremely beloved and valued by him. (11)

The narrator as a witness to Oroonoko’s story provides her reader with plenty of her
own impressions and thus multiplies his romantic features:

The great and just character of Oroonoko gave me an extreme curiosity to see him, especially
when I knew he spoke French and English and that I could talk with him, I was as greatly surprised
when I saw him as if I had heard nothing of him; so beyond all report I found him. He came into the
room and addressed himself to me and some other women with the best grace in the world. (11)

Not knowing that Oroonoko was of an African origin, one might suppose that he was
white and of European descent. There is no doubt that Mrs. Behn as a master of a pen
succeeded in describing her Prince in such a way that the European audience accepted him as
somebody with whom they are familiar and closely connected. Consequently, it was not
difficult to implement on the reader her opinions about the cruelties of slavery.
Oroonoko’s trust in the European’s traders was to prove fatal for him. He naively
trusted the captain of an English ship and was betrayed and captured while enjoying “his
friend’s hospitality” aboard. Oroonoko entered the ship together with his friends, Jamoan, his
French governor and hundred of the noblest youth of the court. This was not a common way
of getting slaves but the story proceeds this way so as to illustrate the white men’s action as
very barbarous. Further, it serves as another means of getting the reader on Oroonoko’s side.
This treachery is portrayed realistically:

So that the captain, who had well laid his design before, gave the word and seized on all his
guests, they clapping great irons suddenly on the prince, when he was leaped down in the hold to view
that part of the vessel, and locking him fast down, secured him. The same treachery was used to all the
rest, and all in one instant, in several places of the ship, were lashed fast in irons and betrayed to
slavery. That great design over, they set all hands to work to hoist sail, and with as treacherous and fair
wind, they made from the shore with this innocent and glorious prize, who thought of nothing less
than such an entertainment. (34)

The narrator, disappointed by this scheme, pretends not to judge the captain’s deed
and remains quiet in order not to push the reader very visibly on Oroonoko’s side. “Some
have commended this act as brave in the captain, but I will spare my sense of it, and leave it
to my reader to judge as he pleases.” (34) It is clear that most of the colonists after hearing
this story must have been on the captain’s side. After all, this cargo meant another provision

9
to their cheap labour. On the other hand, the reader in Europe was too detached to feel it this
way and to identify themselves with Oroonoko. It may be assumed that Behn did not approve
of the enslaving of the Prince, nor slavery itself. From the beginning, she might have been
more concerned about European perfidy acted upon this noble native than about other slaves.
Mrs. Behn might have criticized the absence of English gentility. How could traders have
captured someone like Oroonoko who had traded with them for many years? This might be a
question that first occurred to the narrator when meeting Oroonoko.
The conditions aboard were not easy. The slaves did not have enough space and could
not move during the transport. On the other hand, even the crew was in an instant danger of
being taken over by the slaves because they were in the majority. S. Dale McLemore and
Harriett D. Romo explain the situation:

Frequently, as they were being transported through the infamous “Middle Passage” to the New
World, many incidents occurred aboard ship. There were instances in which the slaves overcame the
crews and captured the ships on which they were imprisoned. These revolts were so common that
“they were considered one of the principal hazards of the slave trade” (Frazier 1957: 85). Moreover,
when escape or attack seemed impossible many slaves jumped overboard to their deaths. (McLemore
& Romo 1998: 54)

Not being able to kill themselves in any other way, Oroonoko and his companions
resolved to starve themselves to death, except the French man who was free. The captain,
realizing that he might lose his precious slaves, decides to negotiate better conditions for the
slaves:

And Oroonoko, whose honour was such as he never had violated a word in his life himself,
much less a solemn asseveration, believed in an instant what this man said, but replied, he expected for
a confirmation of this to have his shameful fetters dismissed. This demand was carried to the captain,
who returned him answer that the offence had been so great which he had put upon the prince, that he
durst not trust him with liberty while he remained in the ship, for fear lest by a valour natural to him,
and a revenge that would animate that valour, he might commit some outrage fatal to himself and the
King his master, to whom his vessel did belong. (35)

The captain thought of Oroonoko as any other colonists did later when they were
afraid of Oroonoko’s revenge and did not trust his words. He behaves in the same way and
reveals his true colours. Aphra Behn focuses on the clashes between these two cultures. She
perceives the impossibility of the two nations to understand and trust each other.
After their arrival in Suriname, Oroonoko and his companions were sold as slaves.
Mrs. Behn describes the process of the trade in her novel also because she might have wanted
to point out the fact that slaves were sold like animals or any other goods:

10
 Those who want slaves make a bargain with a master, or captain of a ship and contract to pay
him so much a piece, a matter of twenty pound a head for as many as he agrees for and to pay for ’em
when they shall be delivered on such plantation. So that when there arrives a ship laden with slaves,
they who have so contracted go aboard and receive their number by lot; and perhaps in one lot that
may be for ten, there may happen to be three or four men, the rest, women and children. Or, be there
more or less of either sex, you are obliged to be contented with your lot. (9)

It is generally known that male work power was more valuable for the slave owners at
the beginning then women and children. They needed male field labourers who would work
hard and efficiently. This could have been the fact why Behn’s hero is a male character and
why Imoinda as a female is not important as such. Behn wanted to mould a hero who would
fit the everyday situation on the plantations. Nevertheless, women’s life was very tough and
not easily manageable. Unfortunately, Mrs. Behn does not go into these details, her remarks
about Imoinda’s life are only marginal.
Having been sold, Oroonoko meets his new master Trefry “a young Cornish
gentleman,… a man of a great wit and fine learning and was carried into those parts by the
lord governor to manage all his affairs.” (38) Oroonoko finds Trefry very amiable and worthy
and calls him “his new friend.” (38) This relationship is very important to the whole story,
because Behn established their mutual friendship on the basis of their shared interest. They
were both well-educated and they had the same opinions as far as the slave and slave owner
relationship matters. From the very beginning, Trefry promises to free Oroonoko but he fails
in the attempt:

And he promised him on his word and honour he would find the means to reconduct him to his
own country again, assuring him he had a perfect abhorrence of so dishonourable an action, and that
he would sooner have died, than have been the author of such a perfidy. He found the prince was very
much concerned to know what became of his friends, and how they took their slavery, and Trefry
promised to take care about the enquiring after their condition, and that he should have an account of
’em. (38)

Mrs. Behn puts very strong words into Trefry’s mouth. It can again be a tool that
helps Aphra Behn to have her audience on her side. Trefry as well as the narrator herself
keeps promising but they both are not able to get Oroonoko, now called Caesar, back to his
country. She gives herself a high status in this colony but it does not help at all:

This is a true story of a man gallant enough to merit your protection; and, had he always been
so fortunate, he had not made so inglorious an end: the royal slave I had the honour to know in my
travels to the other world; and though I had none above me in that country, yet I wanted power to
preserve this great man. (5)

11
 The narrator writes a letter to The Lord Maitland (Richard Maitland, 4th Earl of
Lauderdale) and she confesses that she needs power in order to be able to save Caesar and his
family. She is only a woman and has, in her society, less power then men. Mrs. Behn,
therefore, might have appealed through this letter and book to her readers and make them
think about slavery.
When Caesar is, by chance, reunited with his lover Imoinda, now called Clemene, his
desire to be free grows from day to day. It is even stronger when Clemene conceives a baby:

And in a very short time after, she conceived with child, which made Caesar even adore her,
knowing he was the last of his great race. This new accident made him more impatient of liberty, and
he was every day treating with Trefry for his and Clemene’s liberty; and offered either gold, or a vast
quantity of slaves, which should be paid before they let him go, provided he could have any security
that he should go when his ransom was paid. They fed him from day to day with promises, and
delayed him till the lord governor should come, so that he began to suspect them of falsehood, and that
they would delay him till the time of his wife’s delivery, and make a slave of that too, for all the breed
is theirs to whom the parents belong. (45)

Nobody is willing to let Caesar go, despite all the presents that Caesar had promised.
They could have become very rich. On the other hand, Caesar’s behaviour is surprising as
well. Why did he offer slaves? This may destroy his positive image in the eyes of the
contemporary reader who is critical to corruption. This, however, did not reduce Caesar’s
character in the eyes of Aphra Behn. It may be assumed that by this time Caesar’s portrait
could not have been easily broken. His position is becoming very steady and he has probably
gained the reader’s sympathy. Moreover, Mrs. Behn attacks her audience’s emotions with an
innocent baby who, according to the plantations’ rules, should have become a slave as well.
Nash in his book proves this rule, describing slavery as “[…] a life in which bondage for
themselves and their offspring was unending.” (Nash 1982: 170) This must have been
something that drove Caesar and his wife mad. They lost all hope, and the idea of giving birth
to a child into such a world must have been very painful. They certainly did not want their
child to say similar words to the ones in the poem above. It is evident that this uneasy
situation must have led to a rebellion. Caesar’s mutiny was not infrequent:

Though no direct historical parallels for Oroonoko and Imoinda are known, slave rebellions
were common in the West Indies during this period and in the eighteen century, and were often led by
people from Coromantien, given as Oroonoko’s home country. (Spencer 2000: 227)

Although the narrator is supposed to divert him, she fails:

12
 This thought made him very uneasy, and his sullenness gave them some jealousies of him, so
that I was obliged by some persons who feared a mutiny (which is very fatal sometimes in those
colonies, that abound so with slaves that they exceed the whites in vast numbers) to discourse with
Caesar, and to give him all the satisfaction I possibly could; […] (45)

The crisis is not visible yet and the situation seems to be under control and it,
therefore, shows the narrator’s position as a Caesar’s friend who can calm him down.
However, Caesar’s submissiveness is not endless. His feelings suddenly erupt and he appeals
to his fellows:

He told ’em it was not for days, months or years, but for eternity; there was no end to be of
their misfortunes. They suffered not like men who might find a glory and fortitude in oppression, but
like dogs that loved the whip and bell and fawned the more they were beaten; that they had lost the
divine quality of men, and were become insensible asses, fit only to bear; nay worse, an ass, or dog, or
horse, having done his duty, could lie down in retreat, and rise to work again, and while he did his
duty, endured no stripes, but men, villainous, senseless men such as they, […] (57)

The status of slaves, contrary to the original purpose, was quickly deteriorating. They
used to serve just as a cheap labour equal to the whites who were imported from England and
other European countries as a way of escape from their unconventional lives. Most of them
were villains, criminals, robbers or insolvent people.

It is recorded that the Virgina settlers bought “twenty Negers”, who arrived on a Dutch
warship (Frazier 1957:3). Although not much is known about the treatment of these twenty people,
one thing appears to be established: They “were not slaves in a legal sense” (Franklin and Moss
1988:53). They were purchased as indentured or bonded servants rather than as absolute slaves. As we
have noted, many of the White people who were a part of the English colony in Virginia also had
come there under a similar arrangement. (McLemore & Romo 1998: 53)

As the treatment of the slaves was very bad and sometimes even severe, many slaves
escaped to the jungle and were able to find refuge and freedom in the forests of Suriname:

In many cases, fugitive slaves banded together and established independent “maroon
communities” in various inaccessible places. They also sometimes were able to find protection and
long-term sanctuary within Indian societies. (McLemore & Romo 1998: 56)

Running away was a most effective way of resistance. Caesar turns to such a
possibility and manages to persuade other slaves to go with him and help him to find a ship
that would take them back.
Despite all Caesar’s attempts and his abilities of a mighty warrior, he and his
comrades are captured and dragged back to the plantation. Behn could not have let Caesar
escape because it would make an end to her idea of showing all the cruelties of a slave life.

13
The whole purpose of the novel would end up as any other typical romantic novel. She might
have been inspired by some of the slaves’ lives but her hero must suffer till the very end as
majority of slaves did. Behn gives voice to Caesar whose sensitive observance of the colonists
is very accurate. He is able to describe them as they really are:

‘And why’, said he, ‘my dear friends and fellow sufferers, should we be slaves to an unknown
people? Have they won us in honourable battle? And are we by the chance of war become their
slaves? This would not anger a noble heart, this would not animate a soldier’s soul; no, but we are
bought and sold like apes or monkeys, to be the sport of women, fools, and cowards, and the support
of rogues, runagates, that have abandoned their own countries for rapine, murders, thefts, and
villainies. Do you not hear every day how they upbraid each other with infamy of life, below the
wildest salvages, and shall we render obedience to such a degenerate race, who have no humane virtue
left to distinguish ’em from the vilest creatures? Will you, I say, suffer the lash from such hands?’ (58)

In the first part of this passage, Caesar compares traditional slavery with the European
slave-trade. He favours the ancient practice of enslaving those conquered in battles and
disapproves of the new commercialization of slavery. It signals Behn’s focus on the question
of colonial trade and custom, which helps the reader to better distinguish between these two
slavery systems. In the second part, Caesar depicts the colonists and their characters. These
few words seem to be a short psychological insight into the planters’ soul and their inner
lives. Caesar’s eloquence in his speech could have also been aimed at the Europeans who later
read this novel and it might have helped them to think about their own attitude towards the
slave trade. Mrs. Behn provides the reader with her own description of the people who came
to Suriname and established a colony there:

The governor was no sooner recovered and had heard of the menaces of Caesar but called his
council who (not to disgrace them, or burlesque the government there) consisted of such notorious
villains as Newgate never transported, and possibly originally were such, who understood neither the
laws of God or man, and had no sort of principles to make ’em worthy the name of men, but at the
very council table would contradict and fight with one another; and swear so bloodily that ’twas
terrible to hear and see ’em. (65)

Behn’s words definitely supported Caesar’s view and gave more weight to his conduct
towards the colonists. It even shows her own attitude towards them, even though she does not
want “to disgrace them”. She must have been very brave to say such things about the,
constantly glorified, white men’s actions. Ironically, the white men proved to be more savage
than the Negroes.
On the contrary, the narrator herself finds it sometimes hard to stand by Caesar all the
time. She is a woman, too weak to act against all the white men, and includes herself among

14
the colonists. She even allies herself with women and children so as not to take any
responsibility for the brutalities of the planters:

[…] we were possessed with extreme fear which no persuasions could dissipate that he would
secure himself till night, and then, that he would come down and cut all our throats. This apprehension
made all the females of us fly down the river to be secured, and while we were away they acted this
cruelty. For I suppose I had authority and interest enough there, had I suspected any such thing, to
have prevented it, but we had not gone many leagues but the news overtook us that Caesar was taken,
and whipped like a common slave. (64)

The narrator contradicts her own statements about her influential position. On one
hand, she claims that she is almost above all the whites who live in the colony but on the other
hand she cowers and runs away far from Caesar. She justifies her behaviour by saying that
she had no previous knowledge of the colonists’ plan and also by a cheap claim that she
feared Caesar’s conduct that threatened them. This is somewhat unbelievable as she knew
Caesar well and they had respected each other so far. The narrator’s conduct may be
explained by her innate distrust as she naturally includes herself among the colonists.
This, however, might not have been very important as Aphra Behn wanted to offer an
account of slavery judged from the woman’s point of view. She might have even been just a
moral observer who challenged the male authority to take into consideration the morals of the
settlers. Even though this novel is full of contradictions, it may be considered as a significant
novel which provided the full description of the slaves’ lives before any other escaped slave
could publish his own memories. Spencer highlights the importance of this novel:

Behn’s Oroonoko, then, is a troubled and opaque text, full of anxious claims and obscure
quarrels. It is not a clear attack on the institution and practices of slavery, but the sympathetic
treatment of Oroonoko and Imoinda, the description of white cruelty, and even the narrator’s very
inconsistencies and divided position, have the effect of presenting a disturbing picture of colonial life,
and provide the germ for the later, abolitionist development of Oroonoko’s story. (Spencer 2000: 232)

Behn’s novel truly was “a germ” that contributed to the anti-slavery movement. She
became one of the inspirations of the abolitionists. Her hero’s impact on the literary people’s
minds was enormous:

Much more significantly, though, Oroonoko took on new cultural life as a story of slavery, the
more poignant because it was understood to be true. As Wylie Sypher’s pioneering study of British
anti-slavery literature showed, Oroonoko moved out of his original context to become ‘the Oroonoko
legend’, whose influence can be traced in poems, plays, and novels which organized anti-slavery
sentiment around the vision of the “noble Negro’. (Spencer 2000: 224)

15
 It may be agreed that Oroonoko’s story helped to support abolitionist movement in
many ways and prepared people’s minds for a change on humanitarian grounds. Moreover, it
truly depicted all the drudgeries that every slave had to go through. Whether or not Oroonoko
was real, this story could have been the story of any other real slave who came to America. It
might have resembled other real African prince’s life. Spencer mentions such a story in her
book Aphra Behn’s Afterlife:

At one performance in 1749, theatregoers were moved by the spectacle of a real African
prince, in the box watching the play, weeping at the representation of a misfortune similar to his own.
William Unsah Sessarakoo, son of a Fante chief of Annamaboe, had been sent with a companion to
receive a European education. The Liverpool slave-trading captain under whose protection he had
been placed sold the two men into slavery in Barbados in 1744. After protests from Sessarakoo’s
father they were ransomed and taken to London, where they were looked after by the Earl of Halifax,
President of the Board of Trade and Plantations. The performance of Oroonoko at Covent Garden on 1
February 1749 was put on for their entertainment, and their emotional response was very gratifying.
The Gentleman’s Magazine reported:
They were received with a loud clap of applause, which they acknowledged with a very
genteel bow, and took their seats in a box. The seeing persons of their own colour on the stage,
apparently in the same distress from which they had been so lately delivered, the tender interview
between Imoinda and Oroonoko, who was betrayed by the treachery of a captain, the account of his
sufferings, and the repeated abuse of his placability and confidence, strongly affected them with that
generous grief which pure nature always feels, and which art had not yet taught them to suppress; the
young prince was so far overcome, that he was obliged to retire at the end of the fourth act. His
companion remained, but wept the whole time; a circumstance which affected the audience yet more
than the play, and doubled the tears which were shed for Oroonoko and Imoinda. (Spencer 2000: 238)

16
2. DESTROYING IDENTITY

“Realizing that Little is an English name, and I’m not an Englishman, I gave the Englishman
back his name.”
Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little)

The aim of this chapter is to study the impact of the slave owner’s cruel behaviour
towards slaves in Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko. Their purpose was to de-Africanize slaves and
attach them to the master’s colony. How successful the colonists were and how traumatizing
the process was will be revealed throughout the chapter. It is clear that the hero of the novel,
Oroonoko, found himself in the same situation as many other slaves experienced before and
after his remarkable story. Although he was, according to the narrator, treated as a prince and
his charming personality was respected, he, at some point, turned into a being whose
behaviour was judged by the settlers as wild, barbarous and brutal. In fact, it could have been
understood by Behn’s audience that he changed from the ‘noble savage’ into a ‘monster’. The
process might not have been visible at the beginning but as time went on, the hidden purpose
of the slave owners emerged and hit Oroonoko deeply.
The narrator depicts Oroonoko as a very special and unique being that could have
lived in this world:

He became, at the age of seventeen, one of the most expert captains and bravest soldiers that
ever saw the field of Mars. So that he was adored as the wonder of all that world, and the darling of
the soldiers. Besides, he was adorned with a native beauty so transcending all those of his gloomy
race, that he struck an awe and reverence even in those that knew not his quality, as he did in me, who
beheld him with surprise and wonder when afterwards he arrived in our world. (10)

Here Aphra Behn wants to impress not only the female members of the audience with
his beauty but also the male’s part. She, therefore, celebrates his deeds as a warrior and shows
his strength and intelligence which are two crucial traits that men appreciate in another man.
She might have wanted to change their minds and make them think of Oroonoko as somebody
who deserves their attention. Behn probably wished that Oroonoko would also appeal to all
the social classes in the Restoration England and thus would draw the attention to the very
core of the problem that she could have meant to highlight in her part of the world. No bad
deeds could stain his character, because “as he knew no vice, his flame aimed at nothing but
honour.” (14) After one of his famous triumphs the narrator describes how his people treated
him and served him:

17
 He appeared like some divine power descended to save his country from destruction and his
people had purposely put him on all things that might make him shine with most splendour, to strike a
reverent awe into the beholders. (31)

It is evident that Oroonoko’s identity was formed by people of his tribe because every
human being is born into a certain society, culture and it forms their identity. The first to form
one’s identity is their family members. A child is constantly in an interaction with its mother
and father who mould its character into the form of a human being that would be able to cope
with everyday life situations, in short, to fit the society’s image. Oroonoko, however, was an
orphan and he did not grow up surrounded by his closest family members.
Simultaneously, as the child grows, it encounters other members of their society, such
as friends of the family, teachers, schoolmates, politicians, priests and doctors. At the
beginning, the child learns to use a language that differs from other languages, it absorbs
parent’s moral codex, beliefs, opinions, lifestyles and other important things and thus
internalizes its social values and roles that help them to be woven into the social structure.
The ‘ready-to-go grown-up’ is shaped by a combination of punishment, praise and imitation.
The whole process is generally known as socialization or acculturation. (Barker 2004)
Oroonoko’s life was not easy because he was trained to be a soldier from the very
early age. His grandfather, the king of Coromantien, wanted Oroonoko to internalize their
tribe’s customs and tradition. He let other people to form his character and be responsible for
his education and further development:

The king of Coromantien was himself a man of hundred and odd years old, and had no son,
though he had many beautiful black wives; for most certainly there are beauties that can charm of that
colour. In his younger years he had had many gallant men to his sons, thirteen of which died in battle,
conquering when they fell, and he had only left him for his successor one grandchild, son to one of
these dead victors, who, as soon as he could bear a bow in his hand, and a quiver at his back, was sent
into the field to be trained up by one of the oldest generals to war, […] (10)

It was not only the general who taught Oroonoko but also the French man who came
to their community and trained him in many subjects. Together with other natives, they
inculcated identity upon him. The readers of the novel do not learn much about Oroonoko’s
description of himself but they learn a lot about opinions that others have of him. Most of the
time, Oroonoko’s portrayal is given by the narrator whose remarks seem to be clenched by
her inability to identify with neither the colonists nor Oroonoko. She finds it difficult to
distinguish between ‘we’ and ‘they’ and very often functions as a reserved observer.

18
 The subject of identity is more complex and Chris Barker differentiates two
expressions that are very similar and it is important to bear in mind while talking about
identity:

The concepts of subjectivity and identity are closely connected and, in everyday language,
virtually inseparable. However, we may make the following distinctions: 1. subjectivity – the
condition of being a person and the processes by which we become a person; that is, how we are
constituted as subjects (biologically and culturally) and how we experience ourselves (including that
which is indescribable); 2. self-identity – the verbal conceptions we hold about ourselves and our
emotional identification with those self – descriptions; 3. social identity – the expectations and
opinions that others have of us. Both subjectivity and identity take narrative or story-like form when
we talk about them. To ask about subjectivity is to pose the question: what is a person? To explore
identity is to inquire: how do we see ourselves and how do others see us? (Barker 2004: 219)

Most of the time, Oroonoko is described positively by his people, the narrator and
even the colonists. It is clear that identity is not something material or measurable, it is a way
how one defines oneself compared to the other individuals. Giddens summarizes the meaning
of identity very clearly:

However, he is also arguing that identity is not a collection of traits that we possess. Identity it
is not something we have, nor an entity or a thing to which we can point. Rather, is a mode of thinking
about ourselves. Of course, what we think we are changes from circumstance to circumstance in time
and space. This is why Giddens describes identity as a project. By this he means that identity is our
creation. It is something always in process, a moving towards rather than an arrival. (Giddens: In
Barker (2004): 222)

It must be pointed that social identities are actually cultural identities that are
connected with a consciousness of being a member of one’s culture. Identity is not something
that would be automatically inherited but it gradually develops throughout the whole life and
one’s interaction with the particular culture. It is important to stress that what one thinks about
himself may change according to the circumstances in time and space. It is often very hard to
become conscious of one’s cultural influence:

Our cultural identities have a tremendous influence on our communication in everyday life,
but we generally are not highly aware of their influence. We become aware of the influence of our
cultural identities on our communication when we find ourselves in another culture or in a situation in
our cultures where we are interacting with members of other cultures. (Gudykunst 2004: 68)

This is the problem that arose when Oroonoko and the other slaves arrived at the coast
of the New Continent. Not until then did he realize how his culture is important and how
difficult it is to interact with people of different origin and, what is more, different colour.
Despite the fact that Oroonoko was fluent in English and traded with the slave traders before,

19
he experienced cultural shock. Not being fully aware of his cultural identities could have led
to all the misunderstandings Oroonoko was faced with and caused the troubles which
occurred at the end of his life.
Nevertheless, the narrator continues in giving the reader more Oroonoko’s features as
the story proceeds towards the Oroonoko’s capture and his transport to the New World. It is
hard to believe that such a young boy could have been so matured and perfect in everything
that he was doing. This could be ascribed to Behn’s attempt to produce a model of “noble
savage”:

Oroonoko was no sooner returned from this last conquest, and received at court with all the
joy and magnificence that could be expressed to a young victor who was not only returned triumphant,
but beloved like a deity, when there arrived in the port an English ship. (32)

It is possible that he was not only defined as a god but he could have thought of
himself as somebody whose destiny was greater than those less fortunate. To contemporary
readers the deified image of Oroonoko may seem extraordinary and romanticized because
Aphra Behn lived in times when Kings were chosen by God as the executors of God’s power.
It might have simply been just his pride, self-consciousness and self-esteem that astonished
others. Here again it is clear that Behn could not have been satisfied with a mediocre character
and therefore it was inevitable for her to create a romantic figure that would impress the
readers in Europe. The traditions of chivalrous romances in England might have inspired the
author in giving her hero the knightly qualities.
When Oroonoko’s personality and identity was established, he was captured and taken
away from his homeland. He became one of the millions of the natives who went through the
process of detachment. The young prince, suddenly, found himself at the bottom of the slave
trade and at the beginning of a new journey in his life.
The process of de-Africanization was mainly achieved by the shock they experienced
and also by the type of the authority-system they were introduced into and to which they had
to adjust for physical and psychic survival. It is also assumed that the detachment was so
complete that there was little of the cultural sense of behaviour and personality left for the
descendants of the first generation. (Elkins 1963)
This might have resulted in a change in Oroonoko’s mind that took place at the end of
the novel. The impacts of all the steps that were taken in order to strip the slaves of their
identity should not be forgotten and should be re-considered. Now it is almost impossible to
imagine how difficult it was for a slave to undertake the journey to the New Continent. It was

20
a long, cruel and inhumane experience that left deep scars in the Negro’s soul, both physically
and mentally.
As has already been said in the first chapter the slaves were mostly taken in native
wars and some of them were caught in surprise attacks upon the natives’ villages. The
traffickers then sold them to the captains of the ships who brought them to America.
The first shock that the slave experienced was the shock of capture. Though the
enslavement had already existed in Africa, to an individual it happened only once. The second
shock was the long journey to the sea when the slaves were marching through the steaming
jungle under the glaring sun. They were tied together by their necks, they were barefoot,
thirsty, starved and utterly exhausted by the time they reached the coast. The third shock was
the sale to the European slavers. After many days of waiting, they were brought out for the
examination and those who were rejected would be abandoned to starvation. The ones who
remained were bought, given numbers and thrown on shipboard. The next shock was “the
dread Middle Passage”. The stories about horrible conditions were very striking and led
towards the end of the British slave trade. The voyage took two months and was accompanied
by cruelty, diseases and death. The final shock that the poor natives experienced was their
introduction to the West Indies. The way they were handled was also very brutal, they were
exposed naked in public and sold again to the owners of the plantations. (Elkins 1963)
This, however, was not the end of the process of de-Africanization. The system of
destroying the slave’s identity was very complex and deliberate.
The first problem that the slaves were facing was that their sacred African names were
replaced with the new ones. Most Africans, Asians and Hebrews do attach a great significance
to the name. The name that a child is given at birth resembles the life of the ancestors, the
family status, important events and other factors. It is understood that the chosen name will
determine child’s life. In these countries it is quite common to change one’s name in order to
better fit their personality during one’s life. African names are said to be charming and
melodic and have phenomenal meaning and unique history. The great civil rights leader Rev.
Ralph David Abernathy said: “There is much meaning in a name. If you are given the right
name, you start off with certain indefinable but very real advantages.” (http://onepeoples.com)
The slave owners’ renaming strategy originated from the belief that to “rename it
opens the door for me to control it and to possess it.”(www.jablifeskills.com) Sometimes the
slaves got their names on the ships during their endless voyage. Most of the time, the first
couple who walked aboard was named Adam and Eve. However, most African slaves were
named by their owners. The whites followed several trends that were used in naming the

21
slaves. The first trend was the use of Biblical names because slave owners often wanted to
turn their slaves to Christianity. Among the other popular names were demeaning names such
as Plato, Romeo, Hercules and Aphrodite. (http://onepeoples.com) The reason for such names
was to make a fun of the slaves. Oroonoko was named Caesar:

I ought to tell you, that the Christians never buy any slaves but they give ‘em some name of
their own, their native ones being likely very barbarous and hard to pronounce; so that Mr Trefry gave
Oroonoko that of Caesar: which name will live in that country as long as that (scarce more) glorious
one of the great Roman. (39)

In this case Oroonoko’s name was chosen in order to fit his physical features and his
personality. At the beginning of the novel, the narrator depicts Oroonoko as somebody who
bears completely different features than African:

He was pretty tall, but of a shape the most exact that can be fancied. The most famous statuary
could not form the figure of a man more admirably turned from head to foot. His face was not of that
brown, rusty black which most of that nation are, but a perfect ebony, or polished jet. His eyes were
the most aweful that could be seen and very piercing, the white of ’em being like snow, as were his
teeth. His nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat. His mouth, the finest shaped that
could be seen, far from those great turned lips, which are so natural to the rest of the Negroes. (12)

Not surprisingly, Behn’s hero had to be special and he must have been raised over the
rest. Behn chose the person that the audience in Europe was familiar with and loved it.
Caesar, the Roman Emperor and Oroonoko, the African Prince. She wanted to show that there
was nothing about poking fun at him. Caesar was highly respected by all the people he met
with, at least from the beginning. Imoinda, Oroonoko’s lover was also renamed: “and the
whole country resounded with the fame of Clemene, ‘For so,’ said he, ‘we have christened
her.’” (41) On the whole, Mrs. Behn’s remark about the renaming seems to be very
superficial.
The other group of the names contained currently popular names in shortened familiar
versions like Sam, Cass, Tom, Sue and Lil. These names were unpretentious and they should
highlight the idea that the slaves were the same and not unique. Non-names was the last
choice and it should encourage slave owners to look at the slaves as non-human, to see them
as a mass. This group included names like Tiny, Buck, Red and Princess.
(http://onepeoples.com)
The destruction of memory was followed by the destruction of the sense of group
identity, people were sold to the different plantations so as not to be able to achieve unity and
therefore to cause rebellions:

22
 There the merchants and gentlemen of the country going on board to demand those lots of
slaves they had already agreed on, and, amongst those, the overseers of those plantations where I then
chanced to be, the captain, who had given the word, ordered his men to bring up those noble slaves in
fetters whom I have spoken of, and having put ‘em, some in one, and some in other lots with women
and children (which they call piccaninnies), they sold ‘em off as slaves to several merchants and
gentlemen, not putting any two in one lot, because they would separate ‘em far from each other, not
daring to trust ‘em together, lest rage and courage should put ‘em upon contriving some great action to
the ruin of the colony. (37)

The separation of the members of the same tribes and members of the families was
practiced on both continents, North and South. It is clear that leaving slaves from the same
tribes on the one plantation could have possibly led to many rebellions.
Another step in destroying people’s identity was to prevent them from any kind of
practicing their cultural forms because it would again produce unity and unity leads to
resistance. The slaves were also kept from any form of education. They were illiterate, the
slaves were not allowed to handle money, they were forced to accept the faith of the whites,
they were constantly persuaded about their inferiority and all these steps were taken in order
to gain the complete control over the slaves.
Caesar and his Clemene are in a different situation. The narrator takes care of them
and engages them in all things that she finds interesting and useful:

I entertained him with the lives of the Romans and great men, which charmed him to my
company; and her, with teaching her all the pretty works that I was mistress of, and telling her stories
of nuns, and endeavouring to bring her to the knowledge of the true God. (45)

Although Caesar might have appealed to the Europeans as a good student and a civil
man, the hidden control that the whites had over him could be read between the lines. The
colonists wanted to distract his attention and keep him busy and not let him think of his
possible liberty. This might have been one of their strategies. They managed to do so for a
certain time but it did not last forever.
Nevertheless, there were several as ‘lucky slaves’ as Caesar was because some of the
masters realized the price they had paid for the slaves and therefore wanted them to obey and
work hard. This could only be achieved by humane treatment, in a word, a good master made
the slaves industrious and trustworthy. John W. Blassingame gives reasons why the slaves
identified with their masters and illustrates it with an example:

Slaves identified with their owners for several reasons. Many, for example, worked faithfully
for their masters because they expected to be freed at some future date. They were sometimes loyal
because masters catered to their vanity or desire to stand out from the mass of slaves. With house
servants this was often a matter of receiving fancy clothes. Louis Hughes, for instance, declared when

23
his master gave him some new clothes, ‘I had known no comforts, and had been so cowed and broken
in spirits, by cruel lashings, that I really felt light-hearted at this improvement in my personal
appearance, although it was merely for the gratification of my master’s pride; and I thought I would do
all I could to please Boss.’ (Blassingame 1979: 292)

To be freed, this was the only thought in Caesar’s mind since his capture. This,
evidently, might have kept Caesar quiet and fond of all the things that the whites were
interested in. He acted according to the whites rules, because he might have thought this was
the easiest way to liberty. On this occasion, the narrator assures him as well and Caesar relies
on her: “I took it ill he should suspect we would break our words with him, and not permit
both him and Clemene to return to his own kingdom, […]” (45) It could have been Caesar’s
value – honour that he appreciates most that prevented him from being fully aware of the
slave owners’ scheme.
As has already been mentioned, in most cases the situation was different and those
unfortunate slaves were exposed to the cruelty of their masters. The slave could not have
identified with his owner who frequently abused him and treated him as an animal. John W.
Blassingame in his book compares the situation to the concentration camps in Europe:

Even so, on plantations where masters and overseers were almost as morally insensitive, cruel,
and sadistic as the guards in the German concentration camps, many of the slaves became docile,
submissive, and Sambo-like. (Blassingame 1979: 293)

Many slaves did not manage to cope with such a treatment and were deeply depressed,
they lived in deadly fear of all whites, and moreover, lost the feeling of their own existence.
Many times they even lost sympathy for others. The oppression was such that they finally
accepted the superiority of the white supremacists:

As a result, some blacks wished passionately that they were white. James Watkins was treated
so cruelly by his master that eventually, he declared: “I felt as though I had been unfortunate in being
born black, and wished that I could by any means change my skin into a white one, feeling certain that
I should then be free.” (Blassingame 1979: 303)

As has been illustrated, some of the slaves identified with the white people but some
of them were sullenly obedient and hostilely submissive. Despite the respect that Caesar
enjoys from the very beginning, the implicit destruction of his ‘self’ is on the way to emerge
soon.
Prince Oroonoko as a slave Caesar was not made work hard or treated badly, so there
was no reason for his resistance. Although this may be true, Caesar could no longer stand
even the very thought of being a slave:

24
 Much more to this effect he spoke, with an air impatient enough to make me know he would
not be long in bondage; and though he suffered only the name of a slave, and had nothing of the toil
and labour of one, yet that was sufficient to render him uneasy, and he had been too long idle, who
used to be always in action, and in arms. He had a spirit all rough and fierce, and that could not be
tamed to lazy rest. (46)

Here again Aphra Behn’s sense of de-Africanization failes and she ascribes the
reasons for his changed behaviour to his natural needs and the lack of entertainment. They
therefore tried to entertain him as often as it was possible but all their attempts failed and his
last horrible deed was quickly approaching. His days were gloomy and his mind full of very
heavy thoughts:

But, for the most part, his time was passed in melancholy thought and black designs; he
considered, if he should do this deed and die, either in the attempt or after it, he left his lovely Imoinda
a prey or, at best, a slave to the enraged multitude. (67)

As a result of his deep depression and many inner struggles, he makes a final decision
and acts like a beast without sense. He knows that he can not die first as it would throw his
beauty into the hands of the white devils. The day when Caesar took his Imoinda, now
Clemene, for a walk and acquainted her with his design is described:

[…] believing a walk would do him good, which was granted him and, taking Imoinda with
him as he used to do in his more happy and calmer days, he led her up into a wood, where, after (with
a thousand sighs and long gazing silently on her face, while tears gushed in spite of him from his eyes)
he told her his design, first of killing her, and then his enemies, and next himself […] (67)

Even from this short extract it is clear that Caesar himself was aware of his gradual
change of his mind. He is now more frustrated, stressed and nervous. He probably begins to
experience feelings that he has never known before. He feels that he has become somebody or
something else, a monster or a machine that is only able to kill and destroy everything around
him:

[…] the lovely, young and adored victim lays herself down before the sacrificer, while he,
with a hand resolved, and a heart breaking within, gave the fatal stroke; first cutting her throat, and
then severing her yet smiling face from that delicate body, pregnant as it was with the fruits of
tenderest love. (68)

This is something that people watching the scene could hardly understand. It might
have been a common rule in the tribes such as Caesar’s was that death was better than any
kind of humiliation. However, the reader does not learn much about the possible rituals and
practics in his tribe that would make excuse for his cruelty. But to kill his beloved one in a

25
way that blood of the reader freezes in their veins is very brutal and quite unlike Caesar’s
former divine personality. Having killed Clemene, the transformation from a noble savage
into a monster is completed: “his grief swelled up to rage, he tore, he raved, he roared like
some monster of the wood, calling on the loved name Imoinda.” (68) Where is his nobility?
While Caesar was mourning over Clemene’s body, being absent for two days, people
from the plantation went in search for them because they knew something horrible must have
happened. When they found him, he was so much different “so that they stood still and hardly
believing their eyes, that would persuade them that it was Caesar that spoke to ‘em, so much
was he altered.” (70) The sight of Clemene’s body made them shout: “ ‘Oh monster that hast
murdered thy wife.’ Then asking him why he did so cruel a deed, he replied he had no leisure
to answer impertinent questions.” (70). Nevertheless, these cruelties and brutalities continued
as Caesar turned to a self-destruction:

‘Tis not life I seek, nor am I afraid of dying,’ and at that word cut a piece of flesh from his
own throat and threw it at ‘em, … At that he ripped up his own belly, and took his bowels and pulled
‘em out with what strength he could. (70)

Thus ends the Prince Oroonoko’s story, mighty warrior and such a charming person.
Was he or was he not? What led to such a change? Hall talks about different identities that
come to the play at the different times in life:

The subject assumes different identities at different times, identities which are not unified
around a coherent ‘self’. Within us are contradictory identities, pulling in different directions, so that
our identifications are continually being shifted about. If we feel that we have a unified identity from
birth to death, it is only because we construct a comforting story or ‘narrative of the self’ about
ourselves. (Hall: In Barker 2004: 224)

Chris Barker explains Hall’s argumentation further: “Hall is making the point that
identities are contradictory and cross-cut or dislocate each other. No single identity can, he
argues, act as an overarching organizing identity. Rather, identities shift according to how
subjects are addressed or represented.” (Barker 2004: 232) As the study shows, every human
being has many identities that are not fixed but change according to the situations one might
be in. Moreover, it is also closely connected with the way people address the individual. It
might be then sure that the change of the name and other factors switched on one of the
Caesar’s identity that later formed him into a monster.
Stanley M. Elkins compares the life of a slave to the one of a prisoner in the German
concentration camp. There are many similarities that may be found in both cases and Elkins

26
calls the experience of psychic detachment as a kind of ‘splitting personality’; the inmates did
not see all these degrading experiences as happening to them but to somebody else. He also
explains why people behaved differently before they were taken to the camp:

This splitting off of a special ‘self’ – a self which endured the tortures but which was not the
‘real’ self – also provided the first glimpse of a new personality which, being not ‘real’, would not
need to feel bound by the values which guided the individual in his former life. (Elkins 1963: 109)

This could also be true about Caesar’s transformation. Even though he tried hard to
make compromises with the whites, his former values, after some time, were not important to
him any longer and he might have took up some of the values of the slaveholders. He was not
able to recognize what was right and what was wrong, which could have led to his fatal
behaviour and his new ‘self’ acted as every other slave owner did every day. As Elkins
explains:

But then this acquisition of ‘new values’ did not all take place immediately; it was not until
some time after the most acute period of stress was over that the new, ‘unreal’ self would become at
last the ‘real’ one. (Elkins 1963: 110)

This insight into the life of just one of the slaves might have been the reality that
happened to the millions of African slaves in the history of so-called civilized people. Mrs.
Behn’s novel seems to cover another dimension, which could be the psychologically -
sociological probe into the slave’s mind. She might have wanted to express her abhorrence of
the trade and show the slaves as humans who love, hate, feel a pain and think. However, the
result is just an imperfect observation as she could have not fully experienced the slave life.
Behn was probably captured by her view of the world as a white woman of the European
descent and was not able fully deny her feelings of ‘Otherness’. Nevertheless, postmodern
readers may acknowledge the book as a very good attempt to portray a slave in a positive
light.

27
3. SURINAME

Suriname is said to be the lungs of the earth, the beating heart of the Amazon.
(http://web.archive.org)

Suriname is a name for one quite difficult to describe. Most of the people do not know
what to imagine under this exotically sounding name. It is quite an unknown country and also
often wrongly placed in ‘Africa’. This part of the thesis will provide the analysis of Behn’s
text in order to find out whether the part of the story that takes place in Suriname is
autobiographical or not. It will also explore the setting of the novel whose background mirrors
the dramatic relationships of the colonizers and the colonized. The first section studies the
description of nature and scenery. The second is focused on the relationship between the
colonizers and the indigenous people.
Suriname, sometimes spelled Surinam, is located on the northeast coast of South
America, to be more specific, on the north of the Amazon Delta. It is part of the greater
Caribbean region, like its neighbours Guyana to the West and French Guiana to the east. The
climate is tropical with an average temperature of 28 °C; there are two rainy and two dry
seasons. (www.tropilab.com) The narrator describes the climate in a similar way:

‘Tis a continent whose vast extent was never yet known, and may contain more noble earth
than all the universe besides, for they say it reaches from East to West one way as far as China, and
another to Peru. It affords all things both for beauty and use; ‘tis there eternal spring, always the very
months of April, May and June [… ] (47)

The narrator is evidently fascinated by the beauty of the landscape and exaggerates the
vastness of the area that Suriname is located on. Aphra Behn could have afforded to do so,
because most of the immediate readers did not travel and did not know much of the
geography. Behn talks about nature and its wonders throughout the whole novel.
The narrator continues in giving a detailed description of the place where she lived in
Suriname:

As soon as I came into the country, the best house in it was presented me, called St John’s
Hill. It stood on a vast rock of white marble, at the foot of which the river ran a vast depth down, and
not to be descended on that side; the little waves, still dashing and washing the foot of this rock, made
the softest murmurs and purlings in the world, and the opposite bank was adorned with such vast
quantities of different flowers eternally blowing, and every day and hour new, fenced behind ’em with
lofty trees of a thousand rare forms and colours, that the prospect was the most raving that sands can
create. (48)

28
 The language the narrator uses is very flowery and gentle so as to show the admiration
of the sight. It is clear that the narrator struggles for words in order to depict the spectacular
nature because she very often uses the same adjective – vast. This may simply be the result of
the limitation of vocabulary that would be able to describe more precisely the narrator’s
feelings.
The narrator continues very enthusiastically in the description of Suriname’s
vegetation. She not only describes what she sees but also the effect the environment has on
the people:

On the edge of this white rock, towards the river, was a walk or grove of orange and lemon
trees, about half the length of the Marl here, whose flowery and fruity bare branches meet at the top,
and hindered the sun, whose rays are very fierce there, from entering a beam into the grove; and the
cool air that came from the river made it not only fit to entertain people in at all the hottest hours of the
day, but refreshed the sweet blossoms and made it always sweet and charming; […] (48)

Overwhelmed by the endless beauty, the narrator is determined to give as much as

possible to the readers so that they would be able to imagine the place better. Her description
may compare to a documentary film about an area of outstanding natural beauty. She again
and again repeats the same words (eternal, eternally, every day new, always sweet, charming),
so as to stress the fact that England has a very valuable colony and that it is worth keeping
and appreciating it. Moreover, British cuisine could be enriched by so many kinds of spices
and fruits, which would be available all the year round:

The trees appearing all like nosegays adorned with flowers of different kind; some are all
white, some purple, some scarlet, some blue, some yellow; bearing at the same time ripe fruit and
blooming, or producing every day new. (47)

The narrator seems to know many countries in the world as she compares Suriname to
them: “and sure the whole globe of the world cannot show so delightful a place as this grove
was. Not all the gardens of boasted Italy can produce a shade to outvie this, […]. (48) The
author brings the English audience near the setting of the story by comparing it with Italy, the
country they may already be familiar with.
The narrator, as a sensitive observer, includes many examples of animals that live in
Suriname as she encounters them. She depicts those that the readers may not be familiar with.
Suriname’s rainforest knows many different species of animals and plants. Here one may find
countless species of birds, mammals and reptiles. There are some cat-like creatures such as
the jaguar, the puma and the ocelot. (www1.sr.net) The narrator herself was several times in
danger of being eaten by a huge beast:

29
 Sometimes we would go surprising and in search of young tigers in their dens, watching when
the old ones went forth to forage for prey; and oftentimes we have been in great danger and have fled
apace for our lives, when surprised by the dams. But once above all other times we went on this
design, and Caesar was with us, who had no sooner stolen a young tiger from her nest but, going off,
we encountered the dam bearing a buttock of a cow, which he had torn off with his mighty paw, and
going with it towards his den; we had only four women, Caesar, and an English gentleman, brother to
Harry Martin, the great Oliverian; we found there was no escaping this enraged and ravenous beast.
(49)

Despite the jeopardy they could be in, people in the colonies entertained themselves
and it did not matter how dangerous it could have been. They deliberately put their life in
danger and thought that it was a very good way of spending their ‘leisure’ time.
Among the other interesting species found in Suriname and mentioned in the novel are
tropical fish, such as the piranha living in the rivers and swamps, the sloth, several species of
deer, wild boars and monkeys. (www1.sr.net) The narrator describes them “as marmosets, a
sort of monkey as big as a rat or weasel, but of a marvellous and delicate shape, and has face
and hands like a human creature” (6).
She also mentions the armadillo, a kind of an animal whose meat she regularly ate:

The very meat we eat, when set on the table, if it be native, I mean of the country, perfumes
the whole room, especially a little beast called an armadilly, a thing which I can liken to nothing so
well as a rhinoceros; ‘tis all in white armour so jointed that it moves as well in it as if it had nothing
on. This beast is about the bigness of a pig of six weeks old. (48)

It is unbelievable how precisely the author describes the animal. It gives evidence of
the author’s knowledge of many animals that live in other countries. She also gives account of
local customs and curiosities. It is clear that such familiar descriptions would not be possible
without her seeing them. The minute description of a certain place becomes a very powerful
literary device because it helps to make the novel vivid and believable. In this case, indeed, it
does work. Her novel bears qualities typical of travel journals which became extremely
popular only half a century after the publication of Oroonoko. Consequently, Mrs. Behn’s
novel is one of the predecessors of the serious travel books.
When walking in the rainforest, one may come across snakes, frogs and reptiles in all
kinds and sizes, both poisonous and non-poisonous. Many bird species can be found in
Suriname, such as the flamingo, the harpy eagle, parrots, aras, macaws and toucans.
(www1.sr.net) The narrator explains how and what kind of goods the English traded with
the Natives for:

30
 Then for little parakeetoes, great parrots, macaws, and a thousand other birds and beasts of
wonderful and surprising forms, shapes, and colours, for skins of prodigious snakes, of which there are
some threescore yards in length, as is the skin of one that may be seen at His Majesty’s antiquary’s,
where are also some rare flies, of amazing forms and colours, presented to ’em by myself, some as big
as my fist, some less, and all of various excellencies, such as art cannot imitate. (6)

The narrator compares the beauty of nature with the possibilities of art and finds art
very narrow in its ways of preserving such beauties and rarities as even flies may be. She even
finds it crucial to bring some back to England and let other see them.
There is one more rarity that the narrator describes and adds some stories connected
with it:

At other times he would go a-fishing and discoursing on that diversion, he found we had in
that country a very strange fish, called a numb-eel (an eel of which I have eaten), that while it is alive,
it has a quality so cold that those who are angling, though with a line of never so great a length with a
rod at the end of it, it shall, in the same minute the bait is touched by this eel, seize him or her that
holds the rod with benumbedness, that shall deprive ’em of sense for a while; and some have fallen
into the water, and others dropped as dead on the banks of the rivers where they stood, as soon as this
fish touches the bait. (51)

The narrator expresses both the wonder at the strangeness of such a fish and the
inability of a man to catch it. It is evident that the narrator partly functions as a channel
through which the reader may be enriched in their knowledge. She provides the reader with
pictures in a written form.
Suriname is one of the biggest exporters of alumina and aluminium in the world
thanks to the existence of very large deposits of bauxite. Other main export products include
sugar, some oil and large deposits of gold. (http://en.wikipedia.org) Gold was one of the
reasons why European explorers came, including Sir Walter Raleigh in 1600.
(http://web.archive.org) The narrator after one of her explorations meets some Indians of
strange appearance carrying bags filled with gold dust:

We carried these men up to Parham, where they were kept till lord governor came, and
because all the country was mad to be going on this golden adventure, the governor, by his letter
commanded (for they sent some of the gold to him) that a guard should be set at the mouth of the river
of Amazones (a river so called, almost as broad as the river Thames), and prohibited all people from
going up that river, it conducting to those mountains of gold. (56)

This colony was later ceded to the Dutch and the narrator regrets the fact that England
lost so precious and rich land with mountains full of gold. She therefore complains to the
reader at least and thus affects their feelings:

31
 But we going off for England before the project was further prosecuted, and the governor
being drowned in a hurricane, either the design died, or the Dutch have the advantage of it, and ’tis to
be bemoaned what His Majesty lost by losing that part of America. (57)

It is possible to travel the country from East to West along inland rivers and canals.
This way of transport used also the narrator of the story during her stay in Suriname and
together with Caesar and others went to explore the inland and the Indian villages:

But one day, bemoaning of our misfortunes upon this account, Caesar told us we need not to
fear, for if we had a mind to go, he would undertake to be our guard. Some would, but most would not
venture; about eighteen of us resolved and took barge, and, after eight days, arrived near an Indian
town, but approaching it, the hearts of some of our company failed, and they would not venture on
shore, […] (52)

The system of canals took them far away from the coastal plain and brought them to
the Indians. Thanks to the narrator’s curiosity and courage the reader is again given a detailed
analysis of the life in an Indian village. This expedition was surprisingly warmly welcomed
and through their translator the English learned many new things about the Indians’ customs:

Then they invited us into their houses, and dressed venison and buffalo for us, and, going out,
gathered a leaf of a tree called a sarumbo leaf, of six yards long, and spread it on the ground for a
tablecloth, and cutting another in pieces instead of plates, setting us on little low Indian stools, which
they cut out of one entire piece of wood and paint in a sort of japan work, they serve everyone their
mess on these pieces of leaves, and it was very good, but too high seasoned with pepper. (54)

It is known that Suriname has a long and rich tradition in the use of medical plants and
herbs to cure a wide range of illnesses and diseases. The indigenous people, Amerindians and
Maroons know all the different species that are needed to cure a particular disease. They look
for the herbs and plants deep in the jungle and nowadays are used in traditional and
alternative medicine. (www.tropilab.com) While the small expedition was staying with
Indians, they also encountered one of the natives’ prophet, young Indian Peeie, and the
narrator left us a brief account of her understanding:

He is bred to all the little arts and cunning they are capable of, to all the legerdemain, tricks,
and sleight of hand, whereby he imposes upon the rabble, and is both a doctor in physic and divinity,
and by these tricks makes the sick believe he sometimes eases their pains by drawing from afflicted
part little serpents, or odd flies, or worms, or any strange thing, and though they have besides
undoubted good remedies for almost all their diseases, they cure the patient more by fancy than by
medicines, and make themselves feared, loved and reverenced. (55)

32
 As has been stated by the narrator, it is clear that her opinions about their ability to
cure people were very doubtful. She refers to such practices as ‘tricks’ and argues that ‘they
cure the patient more by fancy’ and thus she describes them as very superstitious people easy
to accept any kind of unknown or even extravagant religion. She observes that admiration is
very natural to these people and they simply believe to everything that is strange or new.
The oldest traces of people in Suriname have been found in savannas around 10, 000
years ago. These people inhabited the savannas in small families and built small camps. They
were good hunters and hunted mainly small game as deer. They were also very good at
fishing. (http://home.wxs.nl) The narrator also gives the reader a very detailed description of
the life of the natives and depicts their relationships. She describes them as very friendly and
useful to the colonists and she admires their ability to understand nature and live in a
complete harmony with it:

With these people, as I said, we live in perfect tranquility and good understanding, as it
behoves us to do, they knowing all the places where to seek the best food of the country and the means
of getting it; and for very small and unvaluable trifles, supply us with what ‘tis impossible for us to
get, for they do not only in the wood and over the savannahs in hunting supply the parts of hounds by
swiftly scouring through those almost impassable places, and by the mere activity of their feet, run
down the nimblest deer, and other eatable beasts, but in the water one would think they were gods of
the rivers, or fellow citizens of the deep, so rare an art they have in swimming, diving, and almost
living in water, by which they command the less swift inhabitants of the floods. And then for shooting,
what they cannot take or reach with their hands, they do with arrows, and have so admirable an aim,
that they will split almost an hair, and at any distance that an arrow can reach they will shoot down
oranges and other fruit, and only touch the stalk with the darts’ points that they may not hurt the fruit.
(9)

This fascinating description is correct even today. Mrs. Behn not only did precisely
describe the Natives abilities to get the food but she also felt obliged to praise them for their
care. If it were not for their supply of food the English would be in a danger of perishing. She
might have wanted to show the Europeans how life for the non-natives was difficult.
The first Europeans who came to Suriname were Dutch traders and established a few
colonies in the Guyana region before around 1600. It was not until 1651 that Lord Francis
Willoughby, the English Governor of Barbados, sent an expedition of 300 hundred men to
settle Suriname. These first English settlers set up sugar plantations with Amerindian slave
labour. Soon, the work on the plantations was done by the 2, 000 African slaves in the colony
(http://en.wikipedia.org): “Those then whom we make use of to work in our plantations of
sugar are negroes, black slaves altogether” (9). However, these colonies were invaded and
conquered by the Dutch in 1667, the English and Dutch signed the Treaty of Breda, in which

33
the Dutch were allowed to retain Suriname in exchange for the most famous New Amsterdam
– New York. (http://en.wikipedia.org) The narrator regrets this fact very much as she
mentions it several times throughout the novel:

Though, in a word, I must say thus much of it, that certainly had his late Majesty (Charles II,
who died in 1685) of scared memory but seen and known what a vast and charming world he had been
master of in that continent, he would never have parted so easily with it to the Dutch. (47)

Whereas the African slaves’ position was not valued at all, the natives, as has been
mentioned earlier, were found to be very helpful and useful to the first settlers. The
descriptions of the natives were very favourable, at least from the very beginning until some
of the first problems arose. Gary B. Nash in his book depicts the situation:

From this time on, accounts of natives of the New World included many such enthusiastic
descriptions of native people and their eagerness to receive European explorers and settlers. This
positive side of the image of the Indians not only reflected the friendly reception which Europeans
apparently received in Newfoundland, parts of Florida, and elsewhere in the Caribbean and South
America, but also represented a part of the vision of the New World as an earthly paradise – a Garden
of Eden where war-torn, impoverished Europeans could find a new life amidst nature’s bounty. (Nash
1982, 37)

The narrator of the novel as well as Gary B. Nash describes the atmosphere of their
life similarly:

They are extreme modest and bashful, very shy, and nice of being touched. And though they
are all thus naked, if one lives forever among ‘em, there is not to be seen an indecent action, or glance,
and being continually used to see one another unadorned, so like our first parents before the Fall, it
seems as if they had no wishes, there being nothing heighten curiosity, but all you can see, you see at
once, and every moment see; and where there is no novelty, there can be no curiosity. (8)

The narrator as well as others perceives the natives like the first people – Adam and
Eve - living in a Garden of Eden. Beautiful, gentle, faithful, innocent, sinless, not even
knowing the meaning of the word liar as the narrator mentions later in the novel. She
compares them to “nature as the most harmless, inoffensive, and virtuous mistress”. (8)
The English colonizers’ main reason for colonization was a hope for good trade and
that it would become a major source of profit on the other side of the Atlantic. The principal
goals were, thus, trade with the Indians, search for gold and silver, and discovery of the
Northwest Passage. So therefore they built well-fortified trading posts at the heads of rivers
where the natives would come to trade. For this reason, the Indians were seen as something
better than a ‘savage’. It was only a friendly Indian who could be a trading Indian. (Nash

34
1982) As the narrator summarises the situation “for those (negroes) they make use of there are
not natives of the place, for those we live in perfect amity, without daring to command ‘em,
but on the contrary, caress ‘em with all the brotherly and friendly affection in the world; [...]”
(6), she rightly points out that the colonists did not dare to offend the Indians in any way
because they were in the majority and the settlers would not be able to defend themselves.
“So that they being on all occasions very useful to us, we find it absolutely necessary to caress
’em as friends and not to treat ’em as slaves; nor dare we do other, their numbers so far
surpassing ours in that continent.”(9) Later, the reader learns more about the deteriorating
situation which did not affect the English as much as the Dutch, after taking over the colony:

About this time we were in many mortal fears about some disputes the English had with the
Indians, so that we could scarce trust ourselves without great numbers to go to any Indian towns or
place where they abode, for fear they should fall upon us, as they did immediately after my coming
away, and that it was in the possession of the Dutch, who used ’em not so civilly as the English, so
that they cut in pieces all they could take, getting into houses and hanging up the mother and all her
children about her; and cut a footman I left behind me all in joints, and nailed him to trees. (53)

The narrator expresses her worries about the future of the colony. The mutual
understanding with the natives was slowly disappearing and, instead, a fear was taking over.
It happened partly due to the Dutch conduct towards the Indians, as the narrator remarks.
They looked down on them and did not treat them as humans. She regrets leaving her servant
behind and letting him die, but on the other hand, she is glad that they had escaped.
However difficult life was in Suriname, the author of the novel, Aphra Behn, provides
her reader with a minute description of the landscape, plants, animals, the natives and the
atmosphere among the colonists and the Indians. She included many details that the reader
would either find interesting or enjoy them at least. She could have written a simple travel
narrative, which was interwoven into the main plot and thus made it more colourful. The
Europeans might have learnt something from earlier accounts of the exotic lands. There was a
mass of reports, stories, and promotional accounts, which had been circulating among sailors,
merchants, geographers, politicians, and churchmen who were participating in the early
voyages of discovery, trade and settlement.
As the author knows many details and operates with a great knowledge of the place, it
is almost impossible to separate the narrator and the author. It is highly probable that the
author and the narrator are one person. Although, there has been many debates about Behn’s
stay in Suriname, now it is generally agreed that her claim of ‘being there, seen that’ is a

35
truth. Nevertheless, some critics attacked Behn’s validity and called her liar as Paul Salzman
in his introduction to a new edition of Behn’s work mentions:

This new attention, however, was focused on a very different aspect of Behn’s work: its
‘validity’ as an autobiographical account. In 1913, Ernest Bernbaum published two essays castigating
Behn for passing off a fictional account as truth. Bernbaum’s account of Behn’s authorial crimes takes
a particularly affronted tone: ‘Mrs. Behn in Oroonoko deliberately and circumstantially lied’. This had
the effect of turning criticism for the next seventy years or so into a contest over the truth of Behn’s
account of her stay in Surinam. In general, as more and more information has been uncovered, the
autobiographical aspect of Oroonoko (only an aspect) has been confirmed. (Behn 1994: Xi)

Behn’s knowledge or even direct experience can be hardly denied. She knew not only
about the beauty of the country, the life of the Natives but also about all those internal
disputes among the colonists, and the slave rebellions. Jane Spencer summarises the
argument:

The authenticity of Behn’s stay in Surinam, long a bone of contention, is now generally
accepted, and she writes with first-hand knowledge of a colonial society which contemporary records
show to have been as full of conflict, confusion, and violence as the scenes of her novel. (Spencer
2000: 227)

36
CONCLUSION

This thesis explores one of the first British novels written by Aphra Behn and
evaluates its influence on the readers of the Restoration England. It depicts the complex
relationship of the colonial society. As the author claims to be a witness of the second part of
Oroonoko’s story and to know the hero personally, her observation was examined and
compared with other academic and non-academic writings in order to prove whether or not
her declaration was true. Although I do separate both the narrator and the author in my thesis,
it is my belief that there is enough evidence in the novel to cast it as an autobiographical
account.
The introductory part focuses on Behn’s biography and introduces her as the author of
poetry, comedies and fiction. It also illustrates her position in the highly patriarchal society
and introduces her as a person who is surrounded with many mysteries about her personal life.
The second subchapter shortly describes the plot of the story and implies the supposed
relationship between the author and the narrator. All in all, this introductory part should
provide an overall background for the following analysis.
Colonialism and Slavery is a title of the first chapter. It centres on the life of slaves,
their experience that they were forced to undergo. It reveals the narrator’s attitude towards
slaves and the slavery throughout the novel and explains it on her use of personal pronouns.
This chapter’s conclusion is that not the facts and personal observance themselves were very
important in that time but the most crucial thing is what happened after the publication of the
novel. It provoked the readership in Europe and helped to the anti-slavery movement, which
finally led to the abolition of the slavery.
The second chapter aims to penetrate the visual perception and studies the impact of
the slavery on the personality of Oroonoko. Destroying Identity is, therefore, a concise title of
this chapter. At the beginning, Oroonoko was praised as a deity by his people but at the end
he changed and was denounced as a barbarian. However, Mrs. Behn’s hero is described
attractively so as to make an impression on the reader and secure their sympathies. She was
one of the first to give a full account of a slave life.
The third chapter is called Suriname and offers the complex view of the country
conquered by the Europeans. It analyzes Behn’s description of the place and the relationship
between the indigenous people and the Europeans. It speculates that one of possible Behn’s
intentions could have been to acquaint her readers with a country she allegedly visited. The

37
novel could be interpreted as a travel narrative, one of the novelties she introduced into the
British literature.
These are some of the aspects the novel offers for interpretations and discussions.
However, there are many things that can be studied over and over. She was also very
interested in the politics, which seeps through the text as she worked for the King and
observed the situation in the colony. The relationship between herself/the narrator and
Oroonoko’s lover Imoinda is also worth mentioning and studying. One of the shocking
aspects is the hypocrisy of the Christians. What or who gave them the right to act cruelly
towards people of different origin? It would be also interesting to study some of the later
dramatic versions of this novel and how far they differed from the original.

38
RESUME

Tato bakalářská práce analyzuje jeden z prvních románů v britské literatuře, který
nejenom svým obsahem předstihl svou dobu, ale také byl napsán ženou, v té době více než
troufalé. Aphra Behn napsala svůj román Oroonoko: or the Royal Slave v roce 1688, jako již
zkušená spisovatelka poezie, úspěšných divadelních her a jiné fikce. Toto dílko mělo ve své
době velký úspěch a v následujících letech se dočkalo i několika divadelních adaptací. Později
se jméno Oroonoko stalo symbolem boje proti otroctví.
První dvě kapitoly jsou zaměřeny na problém otroctví s jeho důsledky na všechny
zúčastněné strany. Tyto kapitoly rozebírají jak historii britského kolonialismu, tak samotný
trh s otroky, životní podmínky otroků v koloniích a jejich vzájemné vztahy s kolonisty. Druhá
kapitola se na základě života hlavního hrdiny zabývá velmi závažným aspektem otroctví, a to
je zničení vlastní identity otroka. Třetí kapitola popisuje život v britské kolonii na Surinamu.
Zachycuje nejenom krásnou přírodní scenérii, ale také život původních obyvatel a jejich
užitečnost pro kolonisty, kteří by bez nich jenom stěží přežili. Tato kapitola studuje detailní
popisy krajiny a živočichů a polemizuje o tom, zda tento román mohl z části sloužit i jako
cestopisný dokument pro čtenáře v Anglii, a tím potvrdit důvěryhodnost autorčina vyprávění.

39
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APPENDIX

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