Point of View

The play, "Oroonoko" was written by playwright and author James Southerne. He based his play on a novel written by female author Aphra Behn who authored the novella in 1688. The point of view, therefore, has a unique duality. Throughout the book, the question of women's equality emerges. This issue is likely a favorite one of the novel's author, Aphra Behn; although, Southerne, a man, addresss the issue in an earlier original play, "The Maid's Last Prayer." In fact, Southerne was a popular dramatist of women of that era, as his characterizations seemed to be particularly sympathetic toward women.

The women's rights issue first surfaces in the beginning scene when Charlotte and Lucy Welldon are introduced. They are transplants from London who have failed to capture husbands on the home front. They are hoping for a fresh start and to find husbands in the English colony of...