Reading 1001 discussion

Oroonoko (Aphra Behn) ***

This short novel was groundbreaking in many respects. First, being written in the 17th century, it was deemed by some as the first "novel". Second, it was written by a woman, something which was quite rare at the time. Third, it dealt with slavery and, without necessarily outspoken, was against slavery. It is the story of a prince, in a location in today's Ghana, whose love interest was stolen by the king for his harem. After a few incidents, in order to ensure that Oroonoko and Imoinda (the love interest) were separated, they were both sold into slavery by the king. Following a series of fortuitous events, they get reunited as slaves in Surinam, where they will meet their ultimate fate. A bit hard to read due to the heaviness of the language of the era, but nonetheless interesting.

January 21, 2011 – Finished Reading
Rating: 4 stars
Review: A story of slavery. written in 1688, this 17th century literature is remarkable in its telling of a tale of Oroonoko and Imoinda, their love, the grandfather king who put his own lust above his grandson and heir to his own detriment, the tribe and to Oroonoko and Imoinda. Oroonoko comes to distrust the God of Christians because the Christian is never honest but he continues to try and be patient. He finally can stand things no longer and chooses freedom to his own destruction at the hands of his Christian captives.

Although labeled Historical Fiction by most, this tale of a noble prince of Africa, his tragic love story, and the ignoble realities of slavery read much more like a fictional accounting of people and places the narrator knew, with many of the “characters” existing in that place and time and contemporaries of the author, with perhaps some license given to the noble savage narrative of the story. But fiction or not, pulled from pieces of reality or completely imagined, the inhumanity of slavery are vivid and sadly accurate.

3/5 stars

Oronooko: The Royal Slave by Aphra Behn
3/5
For a diversity challenge, celebrating black history month by reading literature written by black authors about black protagonists or issues. But this author is a white English female. According to Goodreads, Aphra Behn was a prolific dramatist of the English Restoration and was one of the first English professional female writers. Oronooko was inspired by Aphra Behn's visit to Surinam.

The first part of the book is like a romance; the prince Oronooko falls in love with the fair maiden Imoinda. The king and grandfather becomes smitten with Imoinda's beauty and adds her to his concubine. Under King rule the two are forbidden to see each other and they break that rule and as punishment the King sells them into slavery.

The author wrote the book in 1688 and I am trying to keep that in mind while reviewing the book. I am sure this book was ahead of its time not only about slavery but written by a female author. I am actually surprised the book was published at all given the time period. I definitely found it a romanticized view of slavery and relationships. The romance was juxtaposed with the brutality of slavery.

3 stars

Published in 1688... published in 1688... published in 1688. This was a chant in my head as I tried to get through this novel. I did not enjoy it at all. I found it full of racism (for example: Oronooko was considered handsome because he had European features!) and the prose was dull. I also did not find the characters particularly well-developed.

Kelly wrote: "3 stars

Published in 1688... published in 1688... published in 1688. This was a chant in my head as I tried to get through this novel. I did not enjoy it at all. I found it full of racism (for exa..."

Kelly your review made me laugh. I felt the same way you did.

Diane wrote: "Kelly wrote: "3 stars

Published in 1688... published in 1688... published in 1688. This was a chant in my head as I tried to get through this novel. I did not enjoy it at all. I found it full of r..."

Thanks for the comment. Sometimes I feel guilty when I write reviews like this one. I feel like I "should" like it better.

3 Stars

Read in 2010
Re-read in 2018

I was hoping to enjoy this more the second time around, but the language is not very accessible since it was written so long ago. It also lacked a lot of the literary devices of later books due to when it was written. I do think it is a groundbreaking novel for its time since it was one of the first works of fiction and was written by a woman. I felt that the more racist components of the book were just reflective of the author's time. I got the impression from the book that she was perhaps less racist in attitude than most people of her time and station.

3 stars

I'm surprised by how well this story flows along, considering it was written in the 1600s and considered a precursor to the novel. thought the language was accessible, although it was of course dated. The end is beyond brutal, and it was really just a white perspective on slavery. The narrator seems to think it was terrible mainly because Oroonoko and Imoinda are royalty among their people and so physically beautiful, not just because slavery in and of itself was so abhorrent.

3 stars

This book suffers a great deal from the myth of the noble savage, but I have no doubt it was meant well and that Aphra Behn tailored her approach to her audience. It is one of those books that have historical significance and should be read for insight into the era in which it was written more than for its current literary merit.

Leni wrote: "3 stars

I have no doubt it was meant well and that Aphra Behn tailored her approach to her audience. It is one of those books that have historical significance and should be read for insight into the era in which it was written more than for its current literary merit. ."

I agree.

One of the first novels written by a women about slavery that attempted to balance some realism with a tragic romance. The descriptions of Surinam are lush and detailed. The romance is quite stretched. However, the book evidently challenged the very nature of what a novel was in that there were elements of the book that was based on the author's experience and she subtitles the novel; "a true history" even though it clearly was fictional. Her approach to slavery reflected the prejudices of the time (1688) and although she emotionally stands with her royal characters against their mistreatment, she never out and out condemns the whole practice of slavery. Yet, she does make the slave traders and slave holder appear quite ugly in their actions. What was likely highly unusual for the time was the way the royal slave character, Oroonoko, looks down his nose at these Christian slave traders and slave holders for their deceit and the fact that they profess to worship a just god and yet do not act with that belief. "...that honest men could not live amongst them; though no people professed so much, none performed so little".
The edition I read had a wonderful little homage to Aphra Behn from Virginia Woolf written in 1929. Woolf credits Behn with first giving women the right to speak their minds and further, to get paid for it.

Interesting writing by the notable female Restoration playwright. Oroonoko is a strong handsome warrior with ‘noble savage’ values who is sold into slavery in Surinam, where he meets a tragic fate.

Despite being quite short, this is not an easy read for its language and lack of chapters, but it does reward the effort. For me, the descriptions of Suriname (which Behn visited herself) were full of life and character, and her story of slavery was interesting - especially so for its critique of Christian hypocrisy and corrupt European governors which was quite advanced for the era, although of course modern readers will find many dated attitudes and tropes.

The main appeal of this book appears to lie in its importance to the development of the novel, the contribution made by an independent female author, the criticism of slavery and colonial governors, and the author’s own presence as a first person (unnamed) character in the midst of events. It was definitely worth a read, even though the story is a bit clunky in places.

I don't have anything new to add that hasn't already been said in previous reviews in this thread. This tragic romance wrapped up in a slave narrative is a story I can appreciate it for its impact when written and published by a woman in 1688, but it's not really one I would recommend.

This is an important historical artifact describing the beginning of the African slave trade to the Americas. That it was written by one of Britain's first professional female authors also makes it an object of interest (she was also apparently a spy, so a fascinating figure). Although Behn claims to have witnessed many of the events in her novel, it's not clear how much is true. She relies a great deal on melodramatic tropes to enliven her tale. It was a quick read but a bit hard to stomach the racist stereotypes (the noble savage).


⭐⭐ 1/2