Aughterson, Kate, Aphra Behn: The Comedies, Palgrave, 2003.

Aughterson shows how Behn employs comic and dramatic conventions to radical ends and how she forces her audience to engage with issues about gender and sexuality while retaining a witty and accessible style.

Fraser, Antonia, The Weaker Vessel, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2002.

Historian Fraser presents an engaging account of the lives of women of all classes in seventeenth-century England, from heiresses to prostitutes and actresses. She examines issues relevant to many of Behn's plays, such as marriage and divorce.

Roberts, David, The Ladies: Female Patronage of Restoration Drama, 1660-1700, Oxford University Press, 1989.

This is a study of the female audience for Restoration drama. Roberts examines why women went to the theater and how their attendance shaped the kind of plays that were presented. Many plays, for example, exhibited a concern for women's rights.

Todd, Janet, The Secret Life of Aphra...