Aphra Behn remembered

Press, 1 July 1978, Page 15

Aphra Behn remembered

The Passionate Shepherdess: Aphra Behn, 1640-89. By Maureen Duffy. Jonathan Cape. 291 pp, notes and index. $20.10. (Reviewed by Margaret Quigley)

The life of Aphra Behn, though far from fully documented. contains enough unusual, yet verifiable facts to startle the casual reader. Born of obscure parentage in Kent, in 1640, she had by the time she was 20 travelled to the West Indies and Surinam and hack to England, been married and widowed. She was then employed by the newly restored Charles II as "a spy in Antwerp during the Anglo-Dutch war, and on her return to London was imprisoned for debt.

Once released she determined to live by her ability. She became one of the most successful dramatists of the Restoration theatre, published a much discussed novel “Oroonoko,” and wrote a considerable amount of well regarded poetry, mainly for state occasions such as the coronation of James 11.

Yet, in spile of this interesting life and her large volume of work, Aphra Behn remains to all but the dedicated student of Restoration literature an obscure and little regarded name. In the reaction against Restoration morals and manners critics dismissed her witty, sexually candid and fullblooded writing as “a reproach to her womanhood and a disgrace even to the licentious age in which she lived.” Her descent into an obscurity, lit only by the lurid rays of a few sensational legends which clung to her name, meant that her true position as a considerable artist and a pioneer woman in the literary world has never been fully recognised. Sadly, this long overdue biography will do little to restore general recognition to Aphra Behn. It has been fully and conscientiously researched and the author is scrupulous about admitting where doubt exists either on the facts of Mrs Behn’s life or on the authorship of works attributed to her But, perhaps because of this very carefulness, the writing is pedestrian, and at. times even dull. The bare bones of arduous checking of records and

registers show ungracefully through the narrative. Sentences such as "I have been unable to discover. . or "all I have been able to trace. . " are used so frequently they become obtrusive. Maureen Duffy is an accomplished writer who has published a number of successful plays, some poetry and many novels. In "The Passionate Shepherdess,” however, it appears I hat her determination to repolish ihe tarnished image of Aphra Behn has led her to be- so meticulous in deiatling the lady’s life, and so zealous in examining her work, Ihai liveliness and enthusiasm have been lost There is much of interest in this worth-while appraisal of a pioneer woman writer, but one cannot help feeling that the subject deserved a less stolid approach.