Annette C. Boehm reviewed Oroonoko, The rover, and other works by Aphra Behn (Penguin classics)
Review of 'Oroonoko, The rover, and other works' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This novel is from the 1600s, but the language is very accessible, so don't let that keep you from reading "Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave." It's a peculiar story and definitely written from a colonial perspective. Oroonoko is black, visually, but in all other respects this character is described as 'white' -- he has all the attributes Behn's narrator finds desirable for the best and most civilized of people.
Oroonoko is not 'just' black, he is dark as ebony, with a roman nose and a beautiful body. He is 'cultured' because a Frenchman has taught him, and he is a pleasure for the colonialists to be around. Oh, and he also trades in slaves. Yes, this is not an anti-slavery novel, even though it shows the colonizers, especially at the end, as more savage than the natives.
-- if you don't want any spoilers whatsoever, don't read on below -- …
This novel is from the 1600s, but the language is very accessible, so don't let that keep you from reading "Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave." It's a peculiar story and definitely written from a colonial perspective. Oroonoko is black, visually, but in all other respects this character is described as 'white' -- he has all the attributes Behn's narrator finds desirable for the best and most civilized of people.
Oroonoko is not 'just' black, he is dark as ebony, with a roman nose and a beautiful body. He is 'cultured' because a Frenchman has taught him, and he is a pleasure for the colonialists to be around. Oh, and he also trades in slaves. Yes, this is not an anti-slavery novel, even though it shows the colonizers, especially at the end, as more savage than the natives.
-- if you don't want any spoilers whatsoever, don't read on below --
You can read this as a love-story: Oroonoko, victorious in battle, falls in love with the fallen captain's only daughter, Imoira. Imoira is the perfect beauty, lovely to look at, submissive, chaste, and all the men want her -- including the old king himself. The jealous king keeps the lovers apart, and when their ruse to get Oroonoko permission to enter the harem fails, he sells Imoira into slavery. Oroonoko loses all will to live but eventually recovers, still bitter over his lost love. When he, who sells his own people as slaves, gets tricked and sold as a slave himself, he is stoic about it. His royal demeanor has all the other slaves entranced, and so the captain uses Oroonoko as a tool to keep his prisoners under control.
When Oroonoko is sold, he ends up -- you guessed it -- in the same place as Imoira. He gets royal treatment while the other slaves are beaten, and he gets to actually marry his beloved. Still, he's stoic about being a slave, which I guess is easy if you're not being whipped or forced to work your hands to the bone. But when Imoira becomes pregnant, he pleads for their freedom: he does not want their child to be born a slave.
I won't tell you the rest of it, though this is already 2/3rds of the book, -- find out for yourself. Be warned that the last few pages contain graphic violence.
Overall, a very interesting text to read, with elements of 1001 night as well as war-stories and romance. Even if the idea of reading something from 400 years ago is daunting to you, give this one a shot if any of the above sounds interesting to you. It's more accessible than you'd think.
For many more -- and more in-depth -- reviews of books mosey on over to my reading blog: outsideofacat.wordpress.com :)
