27/2/07 - English Literature - Behn: Oroonoko

The full title of the text is Oroonoko, Or the Royal Slave: A True History. Yet it must be remembered that during the Renaissance, historical narratives were just as made up as fictional narratives. Also, the text is more like a novella than a 'history'.

"I Do not pretend, in giving you the history of this royal slave, to entertain my reader with the adventures of a feigned hero, whose life and fortunes fancy may manage at the poet’s pleasure; nor in relating the truth, design to adorn it with any accidents, but such as arrived in earnest to him. And it shall come simply into the world, recommended by its own proper merits, and natural intrigues; there being enough of reality to support it, and to render it diverting, without the addition of invention.

"I was myself an eye-witness, to a great part, of what you will find here set down; and what I could not be witness of, I received from the mouth of the chief actor in this history, the hero himself, who gave us the whole transactions of his youth; and though I shall omit, for brevity’s sake, a thousand little accidents of his life, which, however pleasant to us, where history was scarce, and adventures very rare; yet might prove tedious and heavy to my reader, in a world where he finds diversions for every minute, new and strange. But we who were perfectly charmed with the character of this great man, were curious to gather every circumstance of his life."

Despite Behn's assurance that the text is a 'true' history, the line "I shall omit, for brevity’s sake, a thousand little accidents of his life" should make us question the truth status of the text. The use or abuse of narrative power is a key issue.

1. What kind of a text is Oroonoko?

If we take the text as a novella, surely the content should be pure romanticism? Yet what about its colonial realism and political allegory? Where did the idea for the story come from? It illustrates for us very well 17th century perceptions of colonialism and slavery.

Yet the text sometimes tries to eradicate the 'otherness' of Oroonoko by assimilating him to Western ideals of beauty.

"His face was not of that brown rusty black which most of that Nation are, but of perfect Ebony, or polished Jet. His Eyes were the most awful that cou’d be seen, and very piercing; the White of ‘em being like Snow, as were his Teeth. His nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat. His mouth the finest shaped that could be seen; far from those great turn’d Lips, which are so natural to the rest of the Negroes. The whole Proportion and Air of his face was so nobly and exactly form’d, that bating his Colour, there could be nothing in Nature more beautiful, agreeable and handsome."

Yet it could be seen as actually reinforcing difference: "bating his colour."

Later in the story, it is said that his royalty cannot be hidden despite his slave's garb: "Nothing of the slave but the name."

Yet Oroonoko, like a Western man, sees slavery as a trade. He has his own slaves.

2. The narrator and Oroonoko

"[I] told him, I took it ill he should suspect we would break our words with him, and not permit him and Clemene to return to his own kingdom ....He made me some answers that showed a doubt in him, which made me ask him, what advantage it would be to doubt? It would but give us a fear of him, and possibly compel us to treat him so as I should be very loath to behold: that is, it might occasion his confinement. Perhaps this was not so luckily spoke of me, for I perceived he resented that word, which I strove to soften again in vain. However, he assured me, that whatsoever resolutions he should take, he would act nothing upon the white people. And as for myself, and those upon that plantation where he was, he would sooner forfeit his eternal liberty, and life itself, than lift his hand against his greatest enemy on that place ....

"Before I parted that day with him, I got, with much ado, a promise from him to rest yet a little longer with patience, and wait the coming of the Lord Governor, who was every day expected on our shore. He assured me he would, and this promise he desired me to know was given perfectly in complaisance to me, in whom he had an entire confidence.

"After this, I neither thought it convenient to trust him much out of our view, nor did the country who feared him; but with one accord it was advised to treat him fairly, and oblige him to remain within such a compass, and that he should be permitted, as seldom as could be, to go up to the plantations of the Negroes; or, if he did, to be accompanied by some that should be rather in appearance attendants than spies. This care was for some time taken, and Caesar looked upon it as a mark of extraordinary respect, and was glad his discontent had obliged them to be more observant to him."

Here the narrator Westernises Oroonoko by pitying him, yet there is a lack of trust in him.

The narrator at times believes she has some influence over Oroonoko. She is in between her European counterparts and the 'Other': note her change of address, from "I" to "us". Note that Oroonoko is named 'Caesar', befitting his station as a leader of the group, yet also it is his slave name, not his true name. The narrator teaches Oroonoko the history of Rome, yet teaches Imoinda songs and religion - note that although Oroonoko and Imoinda are a racial 'Other', they are treated gender specifically.

In other areas of the story, he is first described sympathetically, and then as a savage. In one part, the narrator and her attendants flee due to fear of attack from Oroonoko, even though she has previously said that she was potential influence over him. She blames the men, perhaps hiding her own guilt.

Should we trust the narrator? The real Behn would not have had so much authority. Perhaps she narrates the difference in cultures as an allegory of difference between the sexes.

3. The narrator and Imoinda

"a beauty that, to describe her truly, one need say only, she was a female to the noble male; the beautiful black Venus, to our young mars; as charming in her person as he, and of delicate virtues."

Imoinda is described as a "mirror" reflecting Oroonoko's glory. Behn does not identify with Imoinda, she is an alien 'Other'. Imoinda's attraction is accentuated by the white men's reaction to her, therefore she is defined by them separately from other negroes. But her place in the story is somewhat outside of it; Oroonoko spends more time trying to save the narrator than Imoinda.

Imoinda's death is justified by the narrator, and it is noteworthy that she is rarely called by her Christian name 'Clemene', but her negro name, making her an 'Other'.

So why does the text end with Imoinda's name? This only serves to accentuate her absence in the rest of the text. Perhaps it serves to deconstruct the notions with which the text begins.

It it easy to overlook the fact that the early part of the text is very concerned with Imoinda, which is a contradiction of the above. How does this notion bode with her relation to Behn? Perhaps there is a larger margin of romance than the text is given credit for. Would there be much of a difference in the text if there was a shift in focus from royalism to romance?