Oroonoko

Description

Aphra Behn, the poet, playwright, novelist and political satirist was the first truly professional woman writer in English. This selection, edited and introduced by Professor Janet Todd, demonstrates the full sophistication and vitality of Aphra Behn's genius. It contains the plays "The Rover" and "The Widow", "Ranter" (the first English play to be set in the American colonies) together with "Love Letters to a Gentleman", a choice of poems and two short novels - "The Fair Jilt" and "Oroonoko" - which are among the most innovative prose writings of the seventeenth century.

Author description

Little is known of Aphra Behn's early life. She was probably born around 1640 in Kent and in the early 1660s claims to have visited the British colony of Surinam. She turned to literature for a living, producing numerous short stories, 19 stage plays and political propaganda for the Tories. Janet Todd is Francis Hutcheson Professor of English Literature, University of Glasgow and Aphra Behn's biographer.