The Rover (NHB Drama Classics) - Softcover

Aphra Behn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1854591789 ISBN 13: 9781854591784

Publisher: Nick Hern Books, 1999

Synopsis

Number thirty nine in NHB's Drama Classics Series, providing the world's great drama at a great price.

The introduction to this edition of The Rover includes a short biography of Aphra Behn and chronology of her work; a guide to what happens in the play; a short history of the play and its context; and a brief guide to characterisation, language and themes.

The Rover is a rollicking Restoration comedy, written in 1677 by the playwright, novelist and spy Aphra Behn. Set against the background of Carnival in Naples The Rover deals with Willmore, a rakish naval captain in love with Hellena. She is determined to experience love before her brother sends her to a convent but complications arise when Angellica Bianca, a famous courtesan, falls in love with Willmore and swears revenge on him for his betrayal.

About this title

Review:

All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds. --Virginia Woolf

Viewed with a mind open to the political and social climates of its time, The Rover is a resoundingly funny lark, with a host of hearty and toothsome characterisations of the stereotypes of the day. --British Theatre Guide

Viewed with a mind open to the political and social climates of its time, The Rover is a resoundingly funny lark, with a host of hearty and toothsome characterisations of the stereotypes of the day. --British Theatre Guide

About the Author:

Aphra Behn (10 July 1640 16 April 1689) was a prolific dramatist of the English Restoration and was one of the first English professional female writers. Her writing contributed to the amatory fiction genre of British literature. Having worked as a spy for Charles II against the Dutch, Behn's meager income was lost when the king refused to pay her expenses. She turned to writing to make a living.

About this edition

• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1854591789
• ISBN 13: 9781854591784
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160
• Editor: Simon Trussler