critical analysis of oroonoko

Two major literary genres are the romance and novel. A romance is a narrative in which characters are idealized and the plot follows the adventures of an individual. On the other hand a novel contains individualized characters with probable plots and social themes. Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko is a story about an African prince who is enslaved and taken to Surinam to work on a plantation. This story has elements of both a romance and a novel. Oroonoko has the idealized characters and episodic plot of a romance, but addresses social themes associated with a novel.

A characteristic of a romance is the idealized characters. In Oroonoko the characters are idealized instead of individualized. The characters in this story can be divided into either good or evil. The hero and heroine are ideals in their society and embody goodness. Behn describes her hero and heroine, “…she (Imoinda) was female of the noble male (Oroonoko); the beautiful black Venus to our young Mars; and as charming in her person as he, and of delicate virtues.” Although Oroonoko is an African prince we can see him as the brave and noble knight of the romances. Likewise, Imoinda represents the beautiful and virtuous maiden in the romances who is pursued by many men but falls deeply in love with the hero.

Just as Oroonoko and Imoinda symbolize goodness, the villains represent all that is evil. Oroonoko’s grandfather is selfish and greedy. He is jealous of Oroonoko and sacrifices the happiness of his only heir to satisfy his lust for the honorable Imoinda. The governor is a greedy man and Behn describes his character as, “…not being fit to be mentioned with the worst of slaves.” He (the governor) lies to Oroonoko and refuses to grant him his freedom. He is unreasonable and cruel as we see the inhuman way in which he orders Oroonoko’s death.

Unlike a novel the plot of Oroonoko is not character driven. Instead it is episodic and controls the characters. We see an example of the plot controlling the characters when Oroonoko agrees dine on the ship and is consequently betrayed by the captian. Oroonoko is a warrior and should be insightful to the deceit that is about to befall him. However, he is tricked by the captain and becomes a slave. The lack of insight should not be a characteristic of a warrior; nevertheless Oronokoo is a victim of this, which shows that the characters are plot driven. We see that Oroonoko character is plot driven because his speeches are lectures.

In an episodic plot coincidence and reversals play imperative roles. This story relies heavily on the coincidental meeting of Oroonoko and Imoinda in their new world (Surinam). The meeting of the hero and heroine in a strange new world is greatly improbable, however Oroonoko is sold to the same plantation as Imoinda. A reversal of the plot occurs when Oroonoko, a prince is sold into slavery. This reversal of fortune is very similar to the tests that the knights in romances are faced with because it tests the strength and resilience of Oroonoko. He finds himself trapped in a strange world where the only person he can rely on is himself.

Perhaps the greatest resemblance of Oroonoko to a novel is the social themes that are exemplified in the story. A major theme in this story is Slavery, a problem that plagued Behn’s society. She points out the unfairness and cruelty of slavery by describing how it ruined the life of a noble character, Oroonoko. She makes the noble characters in her story the slaves and native Indians. This allows her to draw a contrast between her society and the society of the slaves and Indians. The contrast shows that the slaves and Indians were far nobler than the Europeans because they were not corrupted by greed.

Through her own character she illustrates the prejudice of her society to slaves and to the natives of Surinam. She states, “…we were possessed with extreme fear… that he (Oroonoko) would secure himself till night, and then that he would come down and cut all our throats.” This statement reveals that even though Oroonoko is Behn’s friend and has gained her respect she cannot lose her society’s prejudice of slaves as savages because she is afraid that he would kill her. She depicts her society’s prejudice against women because she is unable to assist Oroonoko in becoming free.

Oroonoko is a wonderful story that fits neither into the genre of romance nor novel. However, it exemplifies characteristics of both genres. The fact that it is neither lends it a uniqueness that couples with the exotic characters and setting of the story. The idealized characters and episodic plot contrast with the social themes addressed in the story. On the other hand, by creating such idealized characters Behn succeeds in portraying the abject wickedness of slavery and delivering a forceful them in Oroonoko.