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A review by lilrusski
Oroonoko by Aphra Behn
4.0
4,75/5*
delving into the psychosexual politics of roving and privilege in the 16th century, we turn to aphra behn for the deliberation of a viscerally personal account of loss and pride twisted by the divisions of class and race. recently, i have been able only to concentrate on books within my syllabus, as classes pick up at an unprecedented speed. i am grateful that i am able to consider a portion of these novel(las) a pleasurable read, rather than an overwhelming assessment.
at 70 pages, behn unfolds and annotates locke-ian understandings of human nature and structured society, and highlights the hypocrisy of imposing western politics on worlds created and functioning within their own socials folds. oroonoko begins as a prince revered for his intellect, ease of tongue, and physical beauty. there is an underscoring discussion of respect being dictated by familiarity. oroonoko continues to receive the same privileges he had as royalty when he is betrayed and enslaved by trade merchants, by virtue of his erudition and close physical semblance to desirable western characteristics.
the definition of what is “foreign” then begs extrapolation. that which is known unknown is placed under such pejorative terms as “other” but in fact comprehends both sides of extremity in matters of religion, martial politics, colonialism, and many more topics broached within the folds of behn’s stunningly expressive hand.
questions of self-sacrifice and dignity come to the fore in highlighting the hypocrisy within psychosexual politics of privilege. when was a man’s word no longer considered worthy of promise? what of the man who breaks this word in order to get ahead of the game? does not this moral conjecture equal judicial crime? such questions i found myself annotating with fervour in the margins, between the lines, on post-it notes, sitting on a stack of discarded crates in my backyard, counterintuitively slowing my reading process down substantially in order to fully appreciate the nuance of a 16th century writer eons ahead of her time — lauded, in fact, by virginia woolf, as the first female writer to make a living within the vocation.
— full review @grandepoque instagram!!
delving into the psychosexual politics of roving and privilege in the 16th century, we turn to aphra behn for the deliberation of a viscerally personal account of loss and pride twisted by the divisions of class and race. recently, i have been able only to concentrate on books within my syllabus, as classes pick up at an unprecedented speed. i am grateful that i am able to consider a portion of these novel(las) a pleasurable read, rather than an overwhelming assessment.
at 70 pages, behn unfolds and annotates locke-ian understandings of human nature and structured society, and highlights the hypocrisy of imposing western politics on worlds created and functioning within their own socials folds. oroonoko begins as a prince revered for his intellect, ease of tongue, and physical beauty. there is an underscoring discussion of respect being dictated by familiarity. oroonoko continues to receive the same privileges he had as royalty when he is betrayed and enslaved by trade merchants, by virtue of his erudition and close physical semblance to desirable western characteristics.
the definition of what is “foreign” then begs extrapolation. that which is known unknown is placed under such pejorative terms as “other” but in fact comprehends both sides of extremity in matters of religion, martial politics, colonialism, and many more topics broached within the folds of behn’s stunningly expressive hand.
questions of self-sacrifice and dignity come to the fore in highlighting the hypocrisy within psychosexual politics of privilege. when was a man’s word no longer considered worthy of promise? what of the man who breaks this word in order to get ahead of the game? does not this moral conjecture equal judicial crime? such questions i found myself annotating with fervour in the margins, between the lines, on post-it notes, sitting on a stack of discarded crates in my backyard, counterintuitively slowing my reading process down substantially in order to fully appreciate the nuance of a 16th century writer eons ahead of her time — lauded, in fact, by virginia woolf, as the first female writer to make a living within the vocation.
— full review @grandepoque instagram!!