Nick Mortenson Laura Linker ENG 251 15 March 2011 Oroonoko Is A Woman?

The ostentatious title of this paper stems from Mary-Beth Roses critical essay on Aphra Behns Oroonoko (1688), Gender and The Heroics of Endurance in Oroonoko. Oroonoko is a woman? is a bold claim not explicitly made by Rose and certainly not meant in any sort of physical way. Rather it is in the substitution of phallic heroism for a feminine heroism in the text, courage and glory replaced by a compromised agency (256). Compromised agency is an elusive description of this proto-feminine heroism; Rose means it as contradictory power, an inability on the part of Oroonoko to have power over those he is greater than, his captors and grandfather, and to then displace this power towards others he can exert control over, mainly his wife. Roses thesis is that this new type of heroism is female. She presents her argument modally from objective biographical criticism to subjective deconstruction of the text and characters. The idea put forth by Rose is well argued and supported, depicting Oroonoko as a feminist novel, overshadowing its anti-slavery sentiments that were already on shaky ground. To begin her argument Rose presents facts about Behns life that point to Oroonoko as being a feminist novel, rather than an abolitionist novel. Rose paints Behn as a walking contradiction in life. The author of Oroonoko is not anti-slavery; rather she is anti-Whig, protesting English slave-trade practices, not the establishment of slavery at large (257). Behn saw the Whigs economic power as a threat to her Kings absolutist

Mortenson 2 rule. Behn believed the Whigs to consist mostly of Englands dominant male property owners, this is the most essential biographical detail as it is the foundation for the feminist doctrine found within Oroonoko (258). The property owners are the antagonists of the novella, as well as Behn, because of their undeserved control over others. These men can exert power but do so dishonorably and by subjecting individuals. The subjugation in question means the only available heroism for the characters is the feminine prototype provided and the heroics of endurance that Oroonoko encompass (258). The stage is now set for the predisposition of Oroonoko to a feminine heroic. Upon a cursory glance of the text, particularly the first half, the reader can discern Oroonoko as a very traditional hero possessing great military prowess and manliness. Rose astutely points out how these qualities are ultimately inadequate and reduced to circus-life feats of entertainment in the latter half of the novella (258). The men Oroonoko exchanges knowledge with repeatedly tricks him; his grandfather, the narrator, Trefry, and the slave-ship Captain are each able to beguile Oroonoko into believing their words and promises. Rose terms this as Oroonokos seduction, a decidedly female position of subjugation (259). His relationship to his male superiors (superior in position only) paints Oroonoko as helpless in his fate, being constantly told one thing while another happens behind his back. Much like the wives of the seventeenth century Oroonoko is at once property and human, two conditions that cannot coexist peacefully (262). Roses close reading finds each part of the novel, from its organization to characterization to plot development, lends itself to defining the hero and pointing to that hero as female in quality.

Mortenson 3 Strength as a phallic quality is given no weight in Behns text. Rose reinforces this by analyzing the structure of the novella, its division into halves (one free, one slave). The first half paints Oroonoko as the traditional hero possessing all the traditional phallic qualities. Yet his actions are anything but, he remains paralyzed after Imoinda is taken from him (260). He remains complacent after every indignity suffered because of his compromised agency. In the second half he is again paralyzed into inaction after murdering his wife. Parallels abound between the two halves; his position as the object of ogling by others, Rose points out, is a womans role filled by the African Prince and is the position Oroonoko is subjected to most in his interactions with others. Rose compares Oroonokos situation to that of Samson, from Miltons tragedy Samson Agonistes, where the heros strength amounts to nothing but his death (259). Oroonokos strength is stripped of any significance; it fails to prevent his enslavement, it fails to carry out the rebellion, it fails to maintain his plans after his wifes death at his hands. To the reader it is this last failure that is the most frustrating. Rose draws a parallel between Oroonoko and Job of the Bible stating the resistance to suicide stems from John Lockes writing that suicide is the perfect condition of slavery (260). In resisting Oroonoko abstains from the label of slave (260). Rose uses outside texts to affirm the universality of the hero and of the text while using other critical essays to bolster her arguments. Roses argument takes Oroonoko from its flickering anti-slavery light to a penetrating light that considers the text as feminist, using slavery as a parallel to the subjugation faced by women in a male dominated society. Rose buttresses her argument well but the reader must keep in mind the subjectivity of all literary criticism. The

Mortenson 4 primary weakness in Roses argument lies in its very foundation, that is she assumes Oroonoko to be a hero simply by redefining heroism. Hero has a definition cultivated by hundreds of years of culture and history. The type is taken and Oroonoko is not a token of it; the term cannot be simply redefined. If Roses analysis is to be believed, it must coin a new term for Oroonoko, as he is not a hero in any moral sense. Oroonoko seems closer to the archetypal widow than the hero. Behn may be critiquing the traditional hero but that does not displace it. Gender and The Heroics of Endurance in Oroonoko is a critical essay worth its ink. Through the combination of inter-textual, biographical, and deconstructive criticisms Rose offers a compelling argument that is proven much stronger than the predominant presentations of Oroonoko as an anti-slavery work. In process, there is no better way to conduct a study of a literary text. If she was given the chance to improve her essay she may consider the argument that Oroonoko is not a hero in any sense that can afford the label and thus re-coin her protagonist as some other type.

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Works Cited Rose, Mary Beth. "Gender and The Heroics of Endurance in Oroonoko." Oroonoko. Ed. Joanna Lipking. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 1997. 256-264. Print.