Penguin Classics Oroonoko

كتاب Penguin Classics Oroonoko
المؤلف: Aphra Behn

We are bought and sold like apes or monkeys , to be the sport of women , fools , and cowards , and the support of rogues ' When Prince Oroonoko's passion for the virtuous Imoinda arouses the jealousy of his grandfather , the lovers are cast into slavery and transported from Africa to the colony of Surinam . Oroonoko's noble bearing soon wins the respect of his English captors , but his struggle for freedom brings about his destruction . Inspired by Aphra Behn's visit to Surinam , Oroonoko reflects the author's romantic view of native peoples as in ' the first state of innocence , before man knew how to sin ' . The novel also reveals Behn's ambiguous attitude to African slavery while she favoured it as a means to strengthen England's rule , her powerful and moving work conveys its injustice and brutality . This new edition of Oroonoko is based on the first printed version of 1688 , and includes a chronology , further reading and notes . In her introduction , Janet Todd examines Aphra Behn's views of slavery , colonization and politics , and her position as a professional woman writer in the Restoration .