"Voices of Defiance: Angellica’s Critique of Marriage and Virginia Woolf’s Tribute to Aphra Behn in The Rover"
Angellica's assertion that the financial negotiations before marrying a prospective bride equate to prostitution reflects a critical view of how both marriage and prostitution commodify women. This perspective resonates with the themes in Aphra Behn's Restoration play "The Rover," where societal norms surrounding marriage, love, and financial transactions are explored with complexity and irony. Angellica, a courtesan in the play, embodies the commodification of female sexuality and highlights the transactional nature often inherent in marriage negotiations, especially within patriarchal societies. Her critique exposes the hypocrisy of a social order that sanctifies marriage while stigmatizing prostitution, even though both involve economic exchanges tied to women's bodies and futures. This viewpoint challenges the traditional idealization of marriage as purely romantic or spiritual, suggesting instead that it can be a form of sanctioned economic exchange.
Virginia Woolf's tribute to Aphra Behn in "A Room of One's Own" underscores Behn's historic role as a trailblazer for women's literary expression. Woolf's statement that "all women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds," acknowledges Behn's pioneering contribution to women's autonomy in the literary world. In "The Rover," Behn constructs female characters like Angellica, Hellena, and Florinda who challenge patriarchal constraints by asserting their desires, intellect, and agency. These women navigate a male-dominated society, employing wit, disguise, and strategic negotiation to claim freedom and self-expression. Behn's candid exploration of gender dynamics and women's voices in the play exemplifies the kind of literary courage and innovation that Woolf admired and celebrated.
Together, these perspectives illuminate how "The Rover," through its complex characters and witty drama, critiques societal norms regarding gender, power, and economics, while affirming women's right to self-expression themes that connect closely to Woolf's feminist literary advocacy.
Angellica's Equating Marriage Negotiations with Prostitution
Angellica’s viewpoint in "The Rover" presents a critique of the economic underpinnings present in both marriage and prostitution. In the play, Angellica Bianca is a courtesan who openly negotiates her terms of engagement, exposing how her body and by extension, women's bodies are subject to transactional dynamics. When she claims that financial negotiations before marriage amount to prostitution, she highlights the commodification present in traditional marriage arrangements, especially those involving dowries, bride prices, or political alliances.
Marriage in the society depicted in "The Rover" is often a barter of economic and social capital rather than purely an affair of love. For example, Florinda's brother, Don Pedro, and her father try to arrange her marriage to older, wealthy men for pragmatic reasons, disregarding her love for Belvile. The economic dimension of marriage is clear, and women like Florinda are objects of negotiation between men. Angellica’s expression draws attention to the blurred line between sanctioned social contracts and stigmatized sex work.
Angellica’s personal trajectory in the play also demonstrates the precarious position of women. Despite her profession being looked down upon, she is more forthright about the economic and personal terms of her relationships than women coerced into marital transactions. Her decision to leave her profession for genuine love with Willmore paradoxically makes her more vulnerable, not less, underscoring the limited agency women possessed in either role.
This argument reflects broader Restoration-era themes, where marriage's economic and political functions overshadow emotional fulfillment. Angellica’s bluntness exposes the hypocrisy in valorizing marriage while condemning prostitution even though both rely on financial exchanges related to women’s bodies and choices.
Virginia Woolf on Aphra Behn’s Literary Significance
Virginia Woolf’s statement from "A Room of One’s Own" venerates Aphra Behn as a foundational figure who made it possible for women to speak openly and freely in literature. Behn was among the first English women to earn a living as a playwright, defying social norms that sought to silence female voices.
Woolf credits Behn with pioneering a space for women’s self-expression in literary culture—a right that previous generations had been denied. Saying "all women ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn," Woolf suggests that Behn’s courage and success paved the way for women’s artistic and intellectual freedom.
Reflecting Woolf's View in "The Rover"
In "The Rover," Aphra Behn creates a spectrum of female characters who embody the very empowerment Woolf admired.
Angellica Bianca is a courtesan who controls her sexuality and economic transactions with men, defying societal shaming to assert her autonomy.
Hellena rejects the fate of a convent enforced by her family, actively seeks romantic adventure, uses disguises, and negotiates her own marriage terms, embodying agency and wit.
Florinda fights against familial control over her marital choices, advocating for love rather than obligation.
These women challenge patriarchal authority and traditional gender roles by openly discussing desire, employing clever subterfuge, and asserting their wills. The comedies of mistaken identity and disguise in the play reveal the constraints on women’s freedom and how they cleverly circumvent them.
Behn’s portrayal of women who "speak their minds" was revolutionary in a male-dominated theatrical world. Her female characters are witty, assertive, and complex, not mere passive objects. They embody personal freedom, resilience, and intelligence, providing an artistic prototype of feminist consciousness that Woolf lauds.
Conclusion
Angellica’s critique in "The Rover" that financial negotiations for marriage are akin to prostitution reveals the play’s astute commentary on women’s commodification in society. By exposing the transactional nature of marriage, the play critiques patriarchal power structures, highlighting the limited agency afforded to women whether in marriage or prostitution.
Virginia Woolf’s praise for Aphra Behn is justified by Behn’s bold creation of female characters in "The Rover" who actively claim their right to voice, self-expression, and autonomy despite social repression. The play is a testament to Behn’s pioneering role in opening literary space for women’s perspectives and feminist themes.
Together, these insights illustrate "The Rover" as both a sharp social critique and a pioneering feminist work, bridging historical literary milestones with ongoing questions of gender, power, and voice.
Work citation:
“A Room of One’s Own.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 28 Sept. 2011, https://www.britannica.com/topic/A-Room-of-Ones-Own.
“A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf.” Goodreads, 11 May 2020, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18521.A_Room_of_One_s_Own.
“To What Extent Can Aphra Behn’s The Rover Be Said to Be Anti-Patriarchal?” Brighton University Blog, 24 Oct. 2018, https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/brightonline/issue-1/4-to-what-extent-can-aphra-behns-the-rover-be-said-to-be-anti-patriarchal-text/.
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