Thursday, 9 December 2021

The Rover

Q- 1 ) Angellica : consider the final negotiations which one make before marrying a prospective bride same as prostitution. Do you agree ??


No , I am not agree with this point because prostitution and married women both are completely deferent perspective and intentions,  so I don't think that both futures are same because one is doing for security and companion of life and prostitution doing it only for money purpose. But it is also true that...


IT has been argued by many that marriage is long-term prostitution, wherein women are trading sex for economic security. Much like a woman of the night exchanges sexual favours in return for cash, the wife exchanges the same in exchange for the ring, the home and family. 

" Marriage without love is a legal prostitution"


Writer Introduction :

Aphra Behn 

Born : 14 December 1640
Died : 16 April 1689

Aphra Behn -Aphara  was a British playwright, poet, translator and fiction writer from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barriers and served as a literary role model for later generations of women authors. Rising from obscurity, she came to the notice of Charles II, who employed her as a spy in Antwerp. Upon her return to London and a probable, brief stay in debtors’ prison, she began writing for the stage. She belonged to a coterie of poets and famous libertines such as John Wilmot, Lord Rochester. She wrote under the pastoral pseudonym Astrea. During the turbulent political times of the Exclusion Crisis, she wrote an epilogue and prologue that brought her into legal trouble; she thereafter devoted most of her writing to prose genres and translations. A staunch supporter of the Stuart line, she declined an invitation from Bishop Burnet to write a welcoming poem to the new king William III. She died shortly after.

Novel introduction :



 Rover, in full The Rover; or, The Banish’t Cavaliers, comedy by Aphra Behn, produced and published in two parts in 1677 and 1681. Set in Madrid and Naples during the exile of England’s King Charles II, the play depicts the adventures of a small group of English Cavaliers. The protagonist, the charming but irresponsible Willmore, may have been modeled on John Wilmot Rochester, a poet in the inner circle of Charles II. The hero’s real-life counterpart may also have been John Hoyle, who was a lover of the playwright. The Rover engages with the social, political and sexual conditions of the 17th century, as well as with theatrical traditions of carnival and misrule. Elaine Hobby introduces Behn's play and explores how it was first performed and received.


Character of Angelica : 
 
Angellica’s role reflects a need for representation and agency for women during the Restoration. She wears no mask, unlike Florinda and Hellena when they go to carnival, and has a reputation outside of carnival based on her profession. Staves insightfully describes her character type as “Behn’s version of a maximally desirable woman [who] simultaneously possesses beauty, the power to evoke desire in men, wealth, and wit”. Unlike Florinda and Hellena, who seek to gain independence, Angellica’s conflict is between the powerlessness of love and maintaining control of a powerful commodity.

 In the second act, the cavaliers gaze at Angellica’s picture and discuss the contracted price. Words such as “stock” and “quality” are used. When Wilmore meets with Angellica’s woman in the second scene, he proposes that he split the cost with his friends and each would share an equal portion of her time. Though this is a blatant insult to her profession, Angellica is intrigued and implores Wilmore to continue his pursuit. She claims that she has never been in love before but she falls for Wilmore, who argues that placing a price on sexual pleasure is a “sin”. With the argument of conventional morality on her mind, she in turn gives him her power by breaking the rules of her profession, allowing him to be with her at the cost of his love alone . Like Florinda and Hellena, Angellica broke the rules of her society for love, but the end result did not help her position in the marketplace.

Though each of these women was a valuable social commodity in their respective situations, Florinda began with no sense of agency, and the power shift in her patriarchal environment gave her more agency to choose who she would marry. Hellena began with the same level of agency as her sister, being forced into a life as a nun, but the shift in power allowed her to take on a new identity with a man which in turn gave her more agency in her devotion. Angellica, on the other hand lost power by falling in love. It left her vulnerable and decreased her level of agency which lowered her social value and self-worth.

Through Florinda, Hellena, and Angellica, Behn was able to bring to life some of the ideals of the Restoration while also critiquing popular movements within the era. Each of these characters endures a social struggle that fits into a bigger picture for the time. Marriage, self-identity and social representation are all topics that women of the Restoration were faced with and characterized what it meant to be a woman during that time. Behn’s execution of these elements makes The Rover a critical part of the history of Restoration Theater.

Definition of prostitute :

 "To offer for sexual intercourse in exchange for pay"

Definition of marriage :

"The relationship that exists between two people who are united as spouses : the state of being married"



Unite with someone they love for the rest of their lives to be faithful and make this sacrament with God’s blessing and in God’s presence to have children who can also be part of the Christian faith
Christians believe that marriage is a covenant before God. Their marriage will take place in the presence of family and friends who act as witnesses. This shows that they are committed to each other.

Marriage is mentioned in the Bible many times. Most Christians regard the Bible as an important source of authority. They believe in its guidance to marry.

 In the Gospel of Mark Jesus says:

"But at the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate".


Prostitute and bride both are  deferent because no doubt many intentions are same but some are completely deferent so we can't say that both have same purpose to get married. But difference is that, 

"A prostitute is therefore objectified and in turn her autonomy is denied, whereas in a marriage this is not exactly the case because of the contractual agreement where the degradation of humanity involved in being used sexually by another is at least mutual and voluntary,"


Perspective of prostitute : 

In a survey of prostitution, the majority of prostitutes say their own sexuality, sexual curiosity and money are the main reasons they chose their line of work. 

Perspective of Bride : 

Historically, women from lower-class families who did not have sufficient means to provide for them had limited options for employment.

In comparison with low-paying menial work with long hours, prostitution could offer young women a greater income and degree of independence than other forms of work.

Both marriage and prostitution were among the limited options available to women to ensure that they could gain access to money through men, who controlled the vast majority of wealth and property. Within marriage, a woman’s freedoms were legally more constrained than those of an unmarried sex worker.

Social conditions and laws made it difficult for women to remove themselves from an unhappy marriage or from prostitution, which carried great moral stigma. With few other options available for economic survival, it was certainly the case that there were both married women and sex workers who were compelled to continue sexual relationships with men when they desired to do otherwise.

Marriage is a licensed prostitution" – George Bernard Shaw once said. If women say 'NO' to sex, their basic needs of food, clothes and shelter will become uncertain for them. Women need to be self-sufficient, educated and hold a job if they have the courage to say that they are not mentally ready for sex, or they are having menstruation or sickness. 

In The Rover many ways, the characters of The Rover conform to the traditional gender roles found in comedies of the Restoration period: the dishonorable men, like Willmore, seek pleasure; the honorable men, like Belvile, seek to protect women; the honorable women, like Florinda, seek matrimony; and the dishonorable women, like Angelica and Lucetta, seek to ensnare men. Men bear swords and seek out violence; women are peaceful and are threatened by violence.

Within her somewhat clichéd structure of her play, however, Aphra Behn is able to explore the nuances and consequences of such prescribed and exaggerated roles. An obvious example of this exploration is Hellena, who desires marriage, as all honorable women Restoration Comedies do. She does so, however, in a thoroughly nontraditional and unfeminine way, and is rewarded for her behavior. The character of Willmore, too, reveals problems with traditional gender roles. The audience finds his lustful antics charming and hilarious when they are directed towards Hellena, but threatening when he accosts Florinda; reconciling these two sides of our supposed hero is difficult and disturbing.

Florinda’s vulnerability, too, reveals flaws with traditional femininity. She may be a perfect lady, but she is completely unprotected from men with bad intentions. Angelica, too, a traditionally “wicked” woman, ultimately inspires pity within the audience, making clear the problematic nature of her role as well.
By pushing gender roles to such extremes, Behn uses her drama to reveal their disturbing and even destructive nature. The Rover is a comedy, but it depicts a troubling reality: that rigid adherence to gender roles may lead to serious and far-reaching consequences.

Conclusion :

According to me bride and prostitute aren't same because one do for family's happiness and she got all respects but the prostitute done it for her desire or money required so both are the different perspective, goal and intentions.


Words count : 1716



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