Explain the views of married life presented in the play. Include
specific comments/lines in your discussion.
To the characters (and economic class) in The Rover, marriage seems
to be a tool or a casual arrangement rather than a union of intimacy
between two people. Married life is presented as either an
arrangement made to allow women to be promiscuous while still being
viewed as “respectable ladies,” or a social contract
entered into to elevate ones financial or socio-economic status.
Florinda presents the female’s position in marriage in the very
first scene in lines 20 to 23, “With indignation; and how near
soever my father thinks I am to marrying that hated object, I shall
let him see I understand better what’s due to my beauty, birth,
and fortune, and more to my soul that to obey those unjust commands.”
In other words, Florinda thinks that she can “do better”
and that she is pretty enough, well bred enough, and lucky enough
that she should be able to attract (or lure, or bargain with) a
husband who is wealthier or higher class. Wilmore’s attitude
towards marriage is even more cavalier than most people of the
period. This is made clear when in Act four, scene two Wilmore
states, “If it were possible I should ever be inclined to
marry, it should be some kind young sinner." In other words,
Wilmore enjoys being single too much to marry, but if he did, he
would want to marry someone with as few virtues as himself. Wilmore’s
attitude towards marriage seems to suggest that marriage is not a
commitment, but rather, marriage is an “arrangement” for
two people with equally indecent attitudes towards marriage,
sexuality, and monogamy. Overall, Wilmore attitude towards marriage
is noy unique, but a general representation of shared attitudes
towards marriage within his socio-economic class during the time
period in which The Rover is set.
What do you think “feminist” means in this context,
and do you agree with this assessment?
By the expression “profoundly feminist” to describe this
restoration piece, we must understand that the definition of feminism
used here is either 1) a modern idea and definition imposed on a text
or 2) a different definition of feminism, or feminism being applied
with it’s 17th century meaning and context. One of
the comments that struck me as profoundly feminist was in Act 5 when
Wilmore says, “woman's honor is not worth guarding when she has
a mind to part with it.” By this, Wilmore dismisses the
traditional male role of protecting a women’s virtue and
basically says that he will allow women to act however promiscuously
she wants. By prefacing the comment with “I am of a nation of
men” he is virtually claiming that his comment speaks for all
men of his time. Aphra Behn takes a bold step in creating a literary
portrait of women not as modest and virtuous, but capable of choice.
The face that her heroine(s) are women of promiscuous actions and
questionable character is viewed as a noble step in the right
direction in the eyes of many feminists critics. This position
however, Aphra Behn shows, does not free these women from the
cultural standard of male dominance. If anything, their rejection of
female subversity, and thus the protection of men, subjects them to
the worst of their society, with no way to defend themselves. As
Wilmore says in 4.2 “Honour? I tell you, I hate it in your
sex!” and continues on to say that those women who think they
have it are worse than the rest, because they are merely hypocrites.
In other words, when Wilmore sexually attacks women, he considers it
their fault, not his, evidence that male dominance is not completely
abolished.
Explain how the Rover portrays women as saleable objects. Include
Florinda, Hellena, and Angelica in your answer.
Correlating with question number one, The Rover does portray women as
goods up for sale, with sex and marriage as the primary currency.
Angelica is, perhaps, the most obvious saleable female in the play,
but it is clear that Florinda and Hellena are also “on the
market” for the right price. Angelica advertises herself to men
in a very tangible way for a set amount of money. The price of
Florinda and Hellena, however, are advertised more subtly. Although
the sisters’ father has a marketing plan in place for the
girls, the very first scene in the first act proves to the audience
the girls plan to sell themselves in a very different way. Throughout
the play, women are objects to be desired, “conquered”
and later tossed aside, regardless of the women’s desires. As
Aphra Behn portrays the times, marriage is not the only way to
“conquer” a women or to “buy” or “own”
her. Sexuality, along with marriage, money, and birthright, in The
Rover is the force that conquers and the currency with which women
are bought and sold. Traditionally, one had to “purchase”
a woman officially by marriage in order to “earn” to
right to engage in sexual actions with her. In The Rover, because the
issue of marriage has been set aside, sexuality becomes foremost. It
follows then that since marriage was something women commonly entered
into without their consent, women could also be forced into sexual
interaction. The opportunity to “purchase” women then
comes not through coercion of a woman or deals with her father, but
through force and lust. The Rover portrays each of the women, and
women in general, and saleable objects “on the market” to
any man as long as he is wealthy, well bred, or charming enough for
marriage, or simply callow and forceful enough to “steal”
her.
Write a well-developed recommendation for keeping or deleting the
Rover from the syllabus.
Looking at the issue from several different perspectives, I would
recommend removing the Rover from the syllabus for this 200 level
foundations class. Although The Rover provides English majors with a
glimpse of literature from a relatively little studied area, and from
a unique perspective, I believe that found a class in the Foundations
of Literature, more canonical literature should be emphasized. (Not
that Behn is not part of the Canon, but it is not as foundation to
the study of literature as, for example, Shakespeare) Because many
students in the Foundations Course are taking the class as their
first class as an English major, it might be more appropriate to
introduce them to more mainstream canonical texts rather than a
relatively unknown one such as The Rover. Additionally, I believe it
is important to introduce new or prospective students to Literature
Studies through literature with more obvious literary value. In other
words, The Rover lacks significant redemptive value on a moral plain
and is not only unrealistic in plot, but also lacks a captivating
plot. While the rover is a valuable text, I would argue that it’s
value lies more in historical and feminist significance rather than
as a literary masterpiece. While The Rover is certainly applicable to
study in higher education, possible even in the field of English
studies, it is my opinion that The Rover is not appropriate for
Foundations of Literary Studies.
