Summary

The narrator describes how Oroonoko, upon learning of what his grandfather the King had done to Imoinda, fell into violent despair and had to be forced to not injure or kill himself. He felt that because the man who took his beloved was the King that he had no option but to accept what he had done: friends, however, told him that because he (Oroonoko) and Imoinda were married, the King was in the wrong, and Oroonoko had the legal right to take his wife back. Oroonoko is pleased to learn of this possibility and makes plans to make an effort to do so, those plans including getting into The Otan, the private and guarded pavilion of the King’s wives.

Meanwhile, Oroonoko has been so successful at making it seem that he has forgotten Imoinda that he is invited to court. He visits...