Oroonoko and the Corruption of Noble Values
The late seventeenth century brought many significant changes in the political field of Great Britain. King Charles I was executed, but his son was soon reinstated after the failure of the Cromwell protectors. James II, the successor, was on the throne when Aphra Behn’s book Oroonoko was published. His position was unsure, and within a year he would go into exile (Maier et al. 82). Behn privately sympathized with Jacobitism (loyalty to James II and his descendents) and saw the removal of a legal king as wrongdoing (Abrams et al. 2047). In the book Oroonoko she assumes the inherent nobility of royalty and this makes the removal of the king even worse. She uses slavery in her story, though she doesn’t condemn it. Aphra Behn condemns what she sees as a corruption of noble values in the Christian world through Oroonoko’s honorable character; slavery is merely an institution that makes the corruption clear.In her book Behn emphasizes several characteristics of Oroonoko; two of the most important ones are greatness of soul and notions of true honor. The greatness of his soul is visible in the way he rises above common people at moments that others might lose their temper. During Oroonoko’s travel over the Atlantic Ocean the ca
The corruption of noble values are visible in Behn’s book. She saw this corruption around her in Surinam and in England. The British king was beheaded in 1648 and at the publishing date of Oronooko the position of king James II was uncertain. Behn shows her disgust about the beheading through the character Oroonoko: “[…] he had heard of the […] deplorable Death of our great Monarch; and wou’d discourse of it with all the Sense, and Abhorrence of the Injustice imaginable” (Behn 13). She also shows the inherent nobility of Oroonoko: “and who-ever had heard him speak […] would have confess’d that Oroonoko was capable even of reigning well and of governing wisely [as a white men]” (Behn 14). Behn implies that Oroonoko and the king are both natural nobles, and the world has no notion of the value of nobility and so destroys them. The corruption she saw in Surinam (Lipking 80) had much to do with the local economic growth. The British placed financial gains above noble virtues. This can be seen in the actions of the slave trader, who kidnapped Oroonoko and his friends, broke his promise, and sold them into slavery, all for the sake of money. In Behn’s book Oroonoko is a foil to the corrupt European society. His behavior in contrast with the Europeans shows how she thinks society should be. When Oroonoko is invited to visit the ship of a slave trader for dinner, he does not expect treachery. Behn indirectly condemns the captain’s act: “Some have commended this Act, as brave, in the captain; but I will spare my sense of it […]” (Behn 31). After this treachery, when Oroon
Some topics in this essay:
Surinam Lipking,
Slaves” Behn,
Behn Africans,
D” Behn,
James II,
Aphra Behn,
Abhorrence Injustice,
Oroonoko Slowly,
Aphra Behn’s,
Heathen…” Behn,
noble values,
corruption noble,
behn’s book,
…” behn,
book oroonoko,
corruption noble values,
sold slavery,
james ii,
behn 32,
spare sense …”,
spare sense,
slavery merely institution,
et al,
“some commended act,
sense …” behn,
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Approximate Word count = 1081
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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