Aphra Behn

Oroonoko Aphra Behn

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Since the 1970s, critics arguing that Aphra Behn is the foremother of British women writers, and that Oroonoko is a crucial text in the history of the novel and it is sometimes described as one of the earliest English novels.

In this text, the eponymous hero is an African prince from Coramantien who is tricked into slavery and sold to British colonists in Surinam where he meets the narrator. Behn's text is a first person account of his life, love, rebellion, and execution.