English Literature / Unit 10 ENL 0908 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Aphra Behn: Oroonoko
Captions available
The idea
Aphra Behn, called the first commercially successful woman writer in England, published Oroonoko in sixteen eighty-eight. An African prince is betrayed into slavery and shipped to Suriname, where he finds Imoinda, leads a failed revolt, and is executed. It helped develop the novel.
In practice
A royal slave, a revolt, a death.
Where people slip
Oroonoko mixes romance, travelogue and tragedy.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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