Aphra Behn Studies - Softcover

Todd, Janet

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521119642 ISBN 13: 9780521119641

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Aphra Behn was England's first professional woman writer, but her status as a major author has only recently become clear. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, Behn was denigrated for her 'unwomanly' subject matter and intellectual immodesty. In the twentieth century she has been increasingly viewed as an important dramatist and poet of the Restoration and a founder of the English novel. This book sets Behn firmly in an historical context of political factions, theatre developments and colonial encounters, and includes chapters on each of the genres in which she wrote: drama, fiction, poetry and translation, and on other aspects of her life, from her publishing struggles to her involvement in American slavery. It is an important resource for those studying seventeenth-century English literature and drama, and to those interested in the development of women's writing.

About this title

Review:

"This collection clearly conveys the centrality of Behn's gender as well as to the history of her reception, which is outlined by Todd in her introduction. Behn enters the canon emphatically as a woman. Todd's timely collection, embracing a variety of approaches and covering all aspects of Behn's literary output, makes an important contribution to this process." Albion

"This collection is powerful evidence of the impact of the women's movement and the maturity of feminist scholarship." Modern Philology

Book Description:

This book sets Aphra Behn firmly in an historical context of political factions, theatre developments and colonial encounters, and includes chapters on each of the genres in which she wrote: drama, fiction, poetry and translation, and on aspects of her life, from her publishing struggles to her involvement in American slavery. An important resource for those studying seventeenth century English literature and drama.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0521119642
• ISBN 13: 9780521119641
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 344