Some Current Publications

Some Current Publications Garth Libhart APHRA BEHN Birchwood, Matthew. "'Puritan Mahumetans': Reading Anglo—Muslim Contexts in Aphra Behn's Abdelazer and The False Count." Women's Writing, vol. 27, no. 3, August 2020, pp. 294–309. Birchwood examines Behn's representation of cross-cultural encounters in two plays, Abdelazer (1676) and The False Count (1681), contextualizing his analysis within a discussion of the period's turbulent political atmosphere. Both plays feature a Spanish setting, specifically the "contact zone between the Iberian peninsula and the Maghreb" (294). In Birchwood's view, the plays' attention to the region's "rich history of Christian—Muslim relations" is "directly relevant to domestic political questions of the period" (294). Birchwood begins with an analysis of Abdelazer, "Behn's only full-blooded tragedy," a tale in which a Moroccan prince, now a royal slave, takes revenge on the Spanish royalty who forced his father out of power (295). Birchwood compares several moments from Abdelazer to related scenes in the Elizabethan revenge tragedy Lust's Dominion (performed ca. 1600), which served as a major source for the plot of Behn's play. While the plots between the two plays are broadly similar, Birchwood shows how Behn's version emphasizes the noble status of the titular character and inverts contemporary xenophobic stereotypes about Muslims as instigators of unregulated, vicious passions. Similarly, Birchwood argues that in The False Count, Behn unmasks the hypocrisy of the play's Christian characters. This is most evident in a scene where a "Grand Signior" commands a ship of "Turks." Throughout his analysis, Birchwood shows how both plays "raise provocative questions of succession, conversion, captivity, and allegiance" that resonate [End Page 133] powerfully with the political climate of the English Restoration (294). Britland, Karen. "Aphra Behn's First Marriage?" The Seventeenth Century, vol. 36, no. 1, 2021, pp. 33–53. Britland highlights three documents that may contribute to the understanding of Behn's life and social background. The first is an entry in the church register of St. Botolph Aldgate from 1657 which records the engagement of a "John Halse gentleman and Aphara Johnson" (33). According to Britland, there is a strong indication from archival evidence that the "Aphara Johnson" in the record was the daughter of Bartholomew and Elizabeth Johnson—later known as Aphra Behn. While the entry in the St. Botolph register falls short of proving that a marriage occurred, as it is only a publication of banns, Britland suggests that the wedding itself may have taken place elsewhere, and thus be recorded in another parish record. Britland explains that a connection between the young "Aphara Johnson" and the socially elevated Halse family would explain how Behn came to travel to the Americas: the Halses "had strong colonial connections, with members scattered about the Caribbean as merchants and plantation owners," though little is known about the specific identity or role of the "John Halse" in question (41). Next, Britland considers a set of instructions given to a Dutch spy who travelled to London in the mid-1660s to conduct work involving William Scott. The instructions tell the spy to visit "Scott's Shee correspondent," which Britland interprets as a reference to Behn (41). Finally, Britland turns to Behn's time in Flanders as a spy, suggesting that she borrowed money from John Butler in Antwerp to fund her journey home to England after failing to receive reimbursement from her governmental employers (Butler's will records the debt). Britland concludes by considering how Behn's connections to the networks illuminated by these documents might relate to the development of her literary ambition. Gill, Catie. "The Bible and Its Exegesis in Aphra Behn's An Essay on Translated Prose' (1688)." Women's Writing, vol. 27, no. 3, August 2020, pp. 310–324. Gill argues that Behn's preface to Bernard de Fontenelle's Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes—published as "An Essay on Translated Prose" (1688)—reveals significant information not only about Behn's engagement with the Bible, but also with scientific theories such as heliocentrism. The Copernican solar model is an important influence on Fontenelle's Entretiens, and Behn's prefatory "Essay" praises the theory directly. For instance, Behn argues that Biblical...