Gender Stereotypes By Aphra Behn ´ s The Rover Essay

Gender Stereotypes in Aphra Behn ´s The Rover The social and sexual freedom that came with the Puritan Protectorate in 1660 did not apply for women. Instead, there was a double standard for men and women. Men had all liberties they wanted to have, but for women there were still only three roles: Nun, prostitute or wife (Goodson, para. 1). Aphra Behn picks up on this issue in her play The Rover, which premiered on March 24, 1677. Certainly, the play contains powerful female characters like Hellena and Florinda. However, these women still fulfill female gender stereotypes, for example being emotional, submissive and dependent of men ´s help. Correspondingly, Ellen Goodson states in her article â€Å"Aphra Behn ´s The Rover: Evaluating Women ´s Social and Sexual Options† that â€Å"Behn ´s female characters strive for independence within the limitations of the English system of courtship and marriage† (para. 6). To begin, Florinda is a Spanish noblewoman who is supposed to marry Don Vincentio, a wealthy Spanish old man, but because she is in love with Belvile, she refuses the forced marriage (Pacheco 323). At the very beginning of the play she tells her sister Hellena: â€Å"With indigation, and how near soever my father thinks I am to marrying that hated object, I shall let him see I understand better what ´s due to my beauty, birth and fortune, and more to my soul, than to obey those injust commands† (1.1. 18-21). Therefore, Florinda can be considered confident and independent, although she is aShow MoreRelatedThe Rover Analysis2460 Words   |  10 PagesIn Aphra Behns â€Å"The Rover,† characters define relationships as a type of economy where value and use are key. This time period commodified love and sexuality, valuing financial success over meaningful relationships. The dowry system made rich women with a high status most desirable for marriage and their value was inc reased by their honor. Typical of seventeenth century literature, Behn plays with this ideology as â€Å"the language of love in Restoration comedies frequently draws on the language of