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Phoenix: The Passionate Shepherdess: The Life of Aphra Behn 1649-1680
Born in 1640, Aphra Behn was a spy, poet, dramatist of the Restoration theater, and author of Oroonoko, one of the most popular novels of the time. "A marvelous achievement of logical investigation and imaginative intelligence."
-- Spectator .
-- Spectator .
332 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
About the author
Maureen Duffy
63 books17 followersMaureen Patricia Duffy was a British novelist, poet, playwright, nonfiction author and activist.
Duffy's work often used Freudian ideas and Greek mythology as frameworks. Her writing was distinctive for its use of contrasting voices, or streams of consciousness, often including the perspectives of outsiders. Her novels have been linked to a European tradition of literature which explores reality through the use of language and questioning, rather than through traditional linear narrative. James Joyce in particular, and Modernism in general, are significant influences on her fiction, as is Joyce Cary.
Duffy, with author and activist Brigid Brophy, Michael Levey and two others founded the Writers' Action Group in 1972, which gained more than 700 author members. Their campaign for Public Lending Right (annual payments to authors based on public-library loans of their books) succeeded legally in 1979 after support for it at the 1978 TUC conference. She joined a delegation to meet Prime Minister James Callaghan in 1977. She remained an authority on copyright, intellectual property law and secondary author rights.
Abridged from Wikipedia
Duffy's work often used Freudian ideas and Greek mythology as frameworks. Her writing was distinctive for its use of contrasting voices, or streams of consciousness, often including the perspectives of outsiders. Her novels have been linked to a European tradition of literature which explores reality through the use of language and questioning, rather than through traditional linear narrative. James Joyce in particular, and Modernism in general, are significant influences on her fiction, as is Joyce Cary.
Duffy, with author and activist Brigid Brophy, Michael Levey and two others founded the Writers' Action Group in 1972, which gained more than 700 author members. Their campaign for Public Lending Right (annual payments to authors based on public-library loans of their books) succeeded legally in 1979 after support for it at the 1978 TUC conference. She joined a delegation to meet Prime Minister James Callaghan in 1977. She remained an authority on copyright, intellectual property law and secondary author rights.
Abridged from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 17, 2015
If someone had said, "Hey, Shelley, 2013 is the year you get really into Restoration theater," I would have laughed. But I did, and as part of that, I have to recommend this biography of Aphra Behn, friend and contemporary of Rochester and Dryden (although she and Dryden fell out in grand fashion). She lived in interesting times, married (or maybe didn't), spied for the crown, and then turned to her pen to make her living. If you read other books referencing Behn, they dwell on her sexual life more than her work. Duffy doesn't do that; the book is about Behn the poet and playwright, the progenitor (in many ways) of the novel in English (take that, Richardson). Her sex life makes an appearance now and again, but it's secondary. Nah, politics are secondary. The sex is tertiary. (And that is so refreshing in a biography about a woman.)
There's a lot of reference/quotation of Behn's work (what else do we have to work with?), particularly her poems. Given most people know her only for a very late play (Orinooko) and even fewer have read it, it's a relatively painless way to become acquainted with various prologues, pindarics, and other miscellaneous writings. It's all very baroque and overdone by our standards, but the subtext and the infighting and politics that the verses contain is wonderfully dissected by the author....
...who, by the way, is constantly present in the biography, and comes right out and says, "I believe X" or "I haven't found any evidence to support Y," which is disconcerting at first. After a while, I came to like it. Instead of a non-stop litany of "Maybe she did this or maybe she did that," Duffy just says, "It's most likely this because I found these supporting facts." Boom. Okay, I'm cool with that.
It helps to have a working knowledge of Restoration politics and the Anglo-Dutch wars, as well as the Popish plot. And know where Surinam is. (But even if you don't and are just interested in strong women in history/literature, this is well worth checking out.)
There's a lot of reference/quotation of Behn's work (what else do we have to work with?), particularly her poems. Given most people know her only for a very late play (Orinooko) and even fewer have read it, it's a relatively painless way to become acquainted with various prologues, pindarics, and other miscellaneous writings. It's all very baroque and overdone by our standards, but the subtext and the infighting and politics that the verses contain is wonderfully dissected by the author....
...who, by the way, is constantly present in the biography, and comes right out and says, "I believe X" or "I haven't found any evidence to support Y," which is disconcerting at first. After a while, I came to like it. Instead of a non-stop litany of "Maybe she did this or maybe she did that," Duffy just says, "It's most likely this because I found these supporting facts." Boom. Okay, I'm cool with that.
It helps to have a working knowledge of Restoration politics and the Anglo-Dutch wars, as well as the Popish plot. And know where Surinam is. (But even if you don't and are just interested in strong women in history/literature, this is well worth checking out.)
July 6, 2020
An interesting biography of Aphra Behn, considered by many to be not only the first female novelist but also playwright (as well as a spy, loyal Tory, terrific satirist, biting wit, and political commentator, dedicated Anglican and many other things besides). A bit outdated now in terms of style and rationale (for a non-fiction book there is a great deal of authorial assertions as opposed to proof), it nonetheless does a terrific job of exploring Aphra's life through her work, quoting extensively. Familiarity with Behn's works would be helpful though not essential. Duffy certainly works hard to restore Behn and her body of work to the primary position they deserve rather than the secondary one literary and social history have been determined to give her.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews