Aphra Behn writes Oroonoko with a sexist tone against women. It was said in our lecture that Behn adheres to the conventions that exclude her. She is perhaps sacrificing the idea of capable women in her story in order to be seen as a capable woman herself.
The most prominent female character Imoinda is valued for her pleasing appearance and fragility, “beauty of this fair queen” and “lovely modesty”. Aphra treats her in such a way because straying too far from accepted gender conceptions would have alienated an audience that was already been wary of a female author. Unlike in Oroonoko’s world, in which honour is sacrificed for nothing and death is better than slavery, Behn understands that she must yield to some predetermined expectations. As Virgina Wolfe said, Aphra proved she could be successful “writing at the sacrifice… of certain agreeable qualities”. The world is not fair or honourable, and becoming a prolific female author in the 17th century was not traditional or acceptable to society, so Aphra committed herself to her writing as her highest priority. This is the reason she is so well known to us now, because she forced her way into their culture by playing into what the population wanted from an author.
In stark contrast to Oroonoko’s code of honour, this is a much less idealized and vastly more functional view of the world. To be successful we may need to choose between our integrity or our desire to have power and influence. In short, do we want to be obscure but content, or important and purposeful as a person that we have contrived.