Arifa Ghani Rahman
Associate Professor, Department of English and Humanities, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh. ORCID: 0000-0003-1165-2541. Email: arifa.rahman@ulab.edu.bd
Volume 12, Number 4, July-September, 2020 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n4.03
Abstract
In her works, Aphra Behn examines the possibilities of female agency in a patriarchal world. This paper begins by contextualizing Behn’s work within the male literary tradition in which she wrote to understand the place of female agency. Her play The Rover is closely examined to show this agency in heterosexual relationships and its connection to money and parental/patriarchal authority. The paper also analyzes the interrelationship between subjects and objects of desire. The use of masks in the play as instruments that accord temporary liberation or empowerment is discussed, and the paper questions whether female agency in Behn’s world is real or merely assumed. A poem is also examined to reinforce the conclusion which suggests that, despite empowerment in various forms, female agency is ultimately only temporary. However, the paper also questions whether Behn had ulterior motives in presenting female agency as unsustainable.
Keywords: Female agency, Empowerment, Objects of desire, Masks, Masculine
