Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Aphra Behn was an English playwright, poet, and translator during the Restoration period. She was the first English woman who earned her living by her writing. She was born on 14 December 1640 and died on 16 April 1689. A few of her most famous and successful playwrights include The Forc’d Marriage; or, The Jealous Bridegroom which was first performed in 1670 at Lincoln’s Inn Field, and The Rover; or, The Banish’d Cavaliers which was performed in 1677. Apart from that, she was a successful prose writer too and her most famous work is the prose-fiction Oroonoko; or, The Royal Slave which is also called an early novel.
Aphra Ben was married to John Behn in 1664 but her husband died in 1665. She was a devoted supporter of King Charles II who appointed her as a political spy in 1665 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. She was recruited as a political spy of England in Antwerp where her main job was to develop intimacy with William Scott, who was the son of regicide Thomas Scott. Thomas Scott was executed in 1660. William Scott was supposed to be a member of the exiled group that was plotting against King Charles II. She was assigned a code name Astrea as a spy that she continued to use as a playwright after her return. In Antwerp, she succeeded in maintaining intimacies with William Scott and tried to make him a double agent. However, William Scott ditched her with the Dutch forces.
She somehow saved herself but failed to get any monetary support from England and as a result, it became difficult for her to return to London. She took some debt to return to London that she couldn’t pay back and in the end was imprisoned in a debtor’s prison. During her stay in the debtor’s prison, she realized that she need to have a profitable vocation to earn money. She was already writing poetry and decided to write plays under the pseudonym Astrea. English poet Lady Elizabeth Cary had already published her play The Tragedy of Mariam in 1913. Katherine Philips, also known as The Matchless Orinda published her translation of Comellie’s Pompey in 1663 which was performed in Dublin and London. Aphra Behn was the first female writer who wrote to earn a living.
Women had been excluded from performing on the public stage before the English Civil War, but in the Restoration period, professional actresses played the women's parts. Aphra Behn enthusiastically started writing dramas. King Charles II supported the English theatres against the prevailing Puritan ethics. King Charles II openly supported some of the playwrights including Libertine John Wilmot Earl of Rochester, George Etherege, and others. Aphra Behn soon got included in the same coterie of John Wilmot. Her first play was The Forc’d Marriage in which she attacked the tradition of arranged marriages. The play became a success. Her second play The Amorous Prince was also successful. However, when her third play The Dutch Lover premiered in 1673, which was a comedy, critics sabotaged the play while attacking the writer for being a woman. Aphra Behn faced the critics strongly and answered them in Epistle to the Readers in which she commented that women had been held back by their unjust exclusion from education, not their lack of ability. However, her argument was overlooked because of her close relationships with the libertine Earl of Rochester and lawyer John Hoyle who was bisexual. The Dutch Lover failed and Behn took a break from her writing career for three years. In 1676, she published three comedies Abdelazer, The Town Fopp, and The Rover. The Rover became a huge hit. It was based on Thomas Killgrew’s play Thomaso, or the Wanderer.
John Dryden reviewed The Rover by Aphra Ben and commented that it "lacks the manly vitality of Killigrew's play, but shows a greater refinement of expression." During the early 1680s, England faced the Exclusion crisis, and London got divided into two political factions, Tories and Whigs. Aphra Behn supported the Tories against the Whigs and in 1681-82, she produced five plays showing her opposition to the Whigs. She used to openly attack the Whigs in her writing. In 1682, she wrote the prologue and epilogue of an anonymous play Romulus and Hersilla in which she criticized James Scott, The Duke of Monmouth who was the illegitimate son of King Charles II. As a result, an arrest warrant was issued against her. James II succeeded King Charles II in 1685 and the popularity of her plays began receding. Her plays faced strong criticism for sexually explicit subjects and dialogues. It was a period when women were not supposed to sell their pens to earn income and were often compared with prostitutes. Among her critics of the 18th century, William Wycherley and Alexander Pope were prominent. Most of her work was marginalized and disregarded by critics for more than 200 years. Though many others supported and cherished her work too. In 1745, Jean-Jaques Rousseau mentioned the French translation of her novel Oroonoko; Or, The Royal Slave in his Discourses of Inequality.
In 1929, Virginia Wolf mentioned Aphra Behn in her essay In A Room Of One’s Own and commented, “All women together, ought to let flowers fall upon the grave of Aphra Behn... for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.”
Summary of The Forc’d Marriage:
The subtitle of The Forc’d Marriage is ‘The Jealous Bridegroom’. It was the first play by Aphra Behn which was first staged in 1670. It is a five-act play in which Aphra Behn attacked the tradition of Arranged marriages. The play begins with a prologue in which an actress appears on stage and acknowledges that the play is written by a woman and appeals to the audience to give the play a good reception.
The play contains many love triangles, the primary of whom is that of Prince Philander, his friend turned foe Alcippus, and Erminia, the daughter of the former General of France. Prince Philander and Erminia are in love and want to marry each other. However, her father general Orgulius isn’t convinced that the King will accept his daughter’s marriage to the Dauphin of France. In a recent battle, Philander, Alcippus, and Orgulius fought together. While all of them fought bravely, Alcippus made a name for his valor on the battlefield. The King decides to award Alcippus for his bravery and announces that he will be the new general of his army as Orgulius has asked for retirement. Alcippus is surprised by this decision but accepts the responsibility and asks for Orgulius’s daughter Erminia’s hand in marriage. Alcippus and the King are unaware of the love between Philander and Erminia. The King announces the marriage of Alcippus with Erminia and her father doesn’t object to it.
This saddens Philander and his sister Galatea who wishes to marry Alcippus. Pisaro, a friend of Alcippus mollifies Philander and his friends against Alcippus and says that Alcippus didn’t know that Philander loved Erminia. He further says that Erminia doesn’t return his love and thus, their marriage can be stopped.
At home, Erminia cries and objects to her father and claims that she only loved Philander. She says that she has always seen Alcippus as her brother and she cannot marry him. Orgulious says that she should accept marriage with Alcippus as her duty as the King has offered her to Alcippus as his wife. Erminia meets Galatea who is her friend and Galatea soothes her and says that she is equally as she loves Alcippus. She says that she has the plan to avoid Erminia’s marriage with Alcippus.
Philander tells to his friends that he is going to discuss the matter with the king to stop the marriage of Erminia and Alcippus and if that doesn’t solve the issue, he will settle the matter with the sword. However, neither his nor Galatea’s efforts prove fruitful and Erminia is married to Alcippus. On their wedding night, Erminia strongly repulses Alcippus and says that though she married him, she will not share the bed with him because she loves Philander. Alcippus gets angry but resists violence and says that his love will win her over with time. Meanwhile, Pisaro, the friend of Alcippus watches the wedding ceremony with keen eyes to avoid any mishap and observes that Galatea is in love with Alcippus and she is saddened by his marriage to Erminia. This breaks his heart as he wishes to marry Galatea.
Philander and his friends decide to attack Alcippus and abduct Erminia. However, Pisaro and Alcippus are alert. Philander reaches Erminia’s chamber and sees her in her nightgown. She asks Philander about Alcippus as she is worried about him. Philander accuses her of betrayal in love to which she claims that she is truthful to him and hasn’t allowed Alcippus to share her bed. Alcippus returns to Erminia’s room at the same time and accuses Erminia of adultery. This enrages Philander and both start fighting. Philander gets wounded and Alcippus takes Erminia away.
Pisaro informs Aclippus why Philander attacked them. Aclippus hints to him about his suspicion of Erminia but Pisaro says that he doesn’t believe that Erminia has done anything wrong till now. He further informs him that princess Galatea is in love with him and she is also sad about his marriage with Erminia. Alcippus is surprised by this. He fails to understand the situation and asks Pisaro what should he do. Pisaro says that Alcippus should leave Erminia and embrace the love of Galatea as that will also offer him the right to inherit half of the kingdom.
Meanwhile, Erminia is shifted to Galatea’s camp for protection. Galatea tells her that Philander loves her and she should submit to him. But Erminia says that she is married to Alcippus and cannot be disloyal to him. Galatea says that she will arrange for a proper solution. Alcippus enters her camp at the same time and accuses Galatea of turning Erminia as cruel as she is. Galatea denies the charge and subtly signs Erminia to soften her attitude towards Alcippus. Alcippus notices the change and apologizes to Galatea. She leaves Alcippus and Erminia alone and Erminia weeps at her situation in front of Alcippus. Alcippus thinks that this is a chance for him to win her love but she clearly states that she always considered him a friend, a brother and that when they meet again, it must be as friends, not lovers.
Philander meets Galatea and asks her to let him meet Erminia. Galatea tries to stop him but he insists and she lets him in. Erminia is surprised at seeing Philander. He says that he is too sick and just wished to see her. Erminia takes him to the inner room so that he may rest. Meanwhile, Alcippus tells Pisaro that he is disheartened because Eminia will never love him. He says that he will return to Erminia’s camp to talk to her again. When Erminia sees Alcippus again, she gets worried because of the presence of Philander in the inner room. Alcippus notices the sword and hat of Philander and accuses Erminia of treachery. Philander comes out at the same time and takes his sword in his hand. Before Alcippus and Philander could attack each other, Erminia comes in between and tells Philander to go away. Philander leaves and Alcippus accuses Erminia of adultery and strangles her. Erminia gets unconscious and Alcippus throws her on her bed, believing he killed her. The servants notice it and spread the news of Erminia’s murder.
Galatea is surprised by the news while Orgulius meets the king and demands revenge against Alcippus. Galatea announces that if they harm Alcippus, she will commit suicide because she loves him. King is surprised by all this and when he comes to know that Philander and Erminia were in love, while Galatea loved Alcippus, he regrets his decision. Meanwhile, Galatea visits her camp to examine Erminia’s death and finds her unconscious. She treats her and gets her back to consciousness. However, she tells her to hide the fact that she is alive. Erminia agrees to her plan. Erminia then disguises herself as a soul and visits Alcippus, making him regret his decision. She says that she was always pure and never indulged in adultery, though she always loved Philander and always considered Alcippus as his friend, and a brother. She also makes him regret Galatea who actually loved him.
At the time of her supposed funeral, Alcippus reaches her coffin when there is no one else and starts weeping for killing Erminia. Philander reaches at the same time and attacks Alcippus for murdering his love. As both men engage in a fight, Galatea approaches them and reprimands them. She mentions that both were close friends and fighting for each other just a few days ago and now they are sworn enemies. Philander complains about the death of Erminia to which Galatea says that Erminia is alive. Soon Erminia arrives there along with the King and Orgulius. The King nullifies Erminia’s marriage to Alcippus and offers Galatea’s hand to Alcippus. Philander asks Orgulius for his daughter’s hand in marriage and Orgulius accepts the proposal. The king makes a final speech in which he wishes the new couple long and happy lives. The play ends with an epilogue in which an actress speaks self-deprecatingly on behalf of her sex, admitting the superiority of men as far as wit is concerned and saying that women can conquer only through their beauty.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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