The Giddy Rout: Constitutional Politics in the Serious Drama of Aphra Behn
On the 12th September 2002, I submitted a thesis (National Library reference) for the degree of Candidatus Philologiae to the English department of the University of Tromsø. Abstract follows:
In this study I look at the constitutional politics of Aphra Behn (1640-1689) as represented in her serious drama, specifically
The Forc’d Marriage (1671),
Abdelazer (1676),
The Young King (1679), and
The Widdow Ranter (1689). In order to view Behn’s constitutional politics within the intellectual context of the period she lived, I construct a political philosophical background of the 17th century against which I analyse Behn’s plays. For this purpose, I use
Leviathan (1651) by Thomas Hobbes; various works by Sir Robert Filmer, most notably
Patriarcha (1680); and
Two Treatises of Government (1690) by John Locke.
There are three major elements of constitutional politics that remain consistent in all of Aphra Behn’s serious drama: her rejection of absolutism; her insistence on an inherited, natural monarchy; and her acknowledgement of the power of the people. These three are important because they challenge the received view of the Restoration period as a period in which absolutists were pitted against constitutionalists, with no position in between. Behn’s Stuart loyalties combined with her rejection of absolutism and her acknowledgement of the power of the people represent a more nuanced picture.
Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn (1640–1689) was the first British woman to earn her living from writing. Little is known with certainty about her life. What is known, however, is reasonably exciting. In her youth, she probably travelled to the English colony in Surinam with her father. He died on the journey out, so Aphra returned to England after only a brief stay in the colony. She then worked for the king as a spy in the Netherlands, before turning to writing to support herself.
Aphra Behn was primarily a playwright, but also wrote poetry and prose. She wrote at least 19 plays, many of which would today be considered box office successes. She also wrote what is possibly the first novel in English, Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister (published in three parts from 1684–1687).
She is buried in Westminster Abbey.
