Women, Voice, and Power in Aphra Behn’s The Rover
Exploring Angellica’s View on Marriage and Virginia Woolf’s Tribute to Aphra Behn
Introduction
Aphra Behn (1640–1689) stands as one of the most remarkable and revolutionary figures in English literature. She was not only the first professional woman writer in English but also one of the earliest voices to challenge the patriarchal values that dominated the Restoration period. Her play The Rover (1677) offers a vivid portrayal of love, desire, and gender politics in a society where women were often viewed as commodities. Through sharp wit, bold female characters, and complex moral questions, Behn exposes the hypocrisy of men and the double standards of society.
In The Rover, Behn gives us two striking female characters—Angellica Bianca, a famous courtesan, and Hellena, a witty young woman determined to choose her own destiny. Both women challenge the conventions that bind them, though in different ways. Angellica, in particular, expresses a radical idea for her time: she equates marriage negotiations to prostitution, questioning the moral foundation of a system that reduces women to objects of economic exchange.
Centuries later, the modernist writer Virginia Woolf praised Aphra Behn in her essay A Room of One’s Own (1929). Woolf wrote, “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.” Woolf’s tribute recognized Behn’s courage to live by her pen and to assert women’s intellectual and creative independence in a male-dominated society.
This blog will explore two key questions inspired by Behn’s The Rover:
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Does Angellica Bianca’s comparison of marriage to prostitution hold truth?
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Was Virginia Woolf right in calling Aphra Behn a pioneer who gave women the right to speak their minds?
To answer these, we will discuss Behn’s life and context, analyze her characters, and understand how The Rover continues to inspire feminist thought even today.
Aphra Behn: The First Professional Woman Writer
Before we explore the play, it is essential to know the woman behind it. Aphra Behn lived in a time when women were not encouraged—or even allowed—to write professionally. Born around 1640, Behn’s early life is somewhat mysterious, but it is believed that she traveled to Surinam (in South America) in her youth, an experience that inspired her later novel Oroonoko (1688).
Behn later served as a spy for King Charles II during political conflicts in the Netherlands. However, after being left unpaid by the Crown, she turned to writing for her livelihood—something almost unheard of for a woman in the 17th century. She became one of the first women in England to earn her living by writing plays, poetry, and fiction.
Her success came during the Restoration period (1660–1700), a time when the monarchy was restored after the Puritan rule and theaters reopened. The Restoration age was marked by lively, often bawdy comedies that explored themes of love, wit, and desire. However, these plays were also dominated by male playwrights who often portrayed women as secondary characters or mere love interests.
Behn changed that. She wrote plays that gave women complexity, intelligence, and moral voice. Her heroines were not silent or submissive—they questioned men’s hypocrisy and demanded the right to choose their destinies. In doing so, Behn laid the foundation for later generations of women writers and thinkers.
Understanding The Rover
The Rover was first performed in 1677 and quickly became one of Behn’s most popular plays. Set in Naples during the Carnival, the play follows a group of English cavaliers (including Willmore, the “rover” or wandering lover) and several women—Florinda, Hellena, and Angellica Bianca—whose lives intersect in a web of love, lust, and power.
The Carnival setting is symbolic—it represents a world turned upside down, where normal rules of class and gender are temporarily suspended. Masks and disguises allow characters to express desires they usually suppress. This atmosphere allows Behn to explore serious social questions under the guise of comedy.
The play’s central tension revolves around freedom and constraint—especially women’s freedom to love, speak, and choose. Through Angellica and Hellena, Behn examines the limited choices women have in a patriarchal society and the ways they navigate those restrictions.
1. Angellica Bianca and the Economics of Marriage
Who is Angellica Bianca?
Angellica Bianca is one of the most complex female characters in Restoration drama. She is a famous courtesan, admired and desired by wealthy men, including Don Pedro and Don Antonio. She charges a high price for her love, symbolized by the portrait she hangs outside her house—an open invitation to bidders. Yet beneath her glamour and confidence, Angellica is deeply emotional and vulnerable.
When she meets Willmore, the charming and reckless English rover, she experiences genuine love for the first time. However, Willmore’s love is fleeting; he betrays her, reminding her of the harsh reality that women like her are judged by different standards than men.
Angellica’s View: Marriage and Prostitution
One of the most striking ideas in The Rover is Angellica’s claim that marriage itself is not so different from prostitution. She observes that in both cases, a woman’s body and affection are exchanged for money or financial security. The difference, she suggests, is only in social respectability, not in the underlying transaction.
In the 17th century, marriages among the upper and middle classes were rarely based on love. They were economic arrangements—families negotiated dowries, property, and social alliances. Women had little say in whom they married, and their worth was often measured by the wealth or status they could bring.
Angellica’s insight exposes the double standard of her society: a courtesan is condemned for selling her body, while a wife is praised for doing the same thing in the name of marriage. Behn uses Angellica’s voice to criticize a world where women’s choices are limited to being a wife, a mistress, or a nun—each role restricting freedom in a different way.
Do We Agree with Angellica?
From a modern perspective, Angellica’s statement carries a strong feminist truth. While marriage today has evolved beyond its purely economic basis, Behn’s era was steeped in patriarchal control. Angellica’s comparison is not meant to insult marriage itself but to highlight women’s lack of agency in choosing their partners and defining their worth.
Her words echo through history as a powerful critique of gender inequality. Even today, in many societies, the financial aspect of marriage remains significant, and women’s autonomy can still be limited by cultural expectations.
Thus, agreeing with Angellica means recognizing that Behn used her character to expose hypocrisy—to show how society condemns one form of female “exchange” while accepting another under a respectable name.
Angellica as a Tragic Figure
Angellica’s tragedy lies in her desire to experience love as a woman, not as a commodity. When she falls for Willmore, she abandons her professional control and opens her heart. But Willmore treats her as one more conquest, reflecting the broader male tendency to exploit women’s vulnerability.
In the end, Angellica is left betrayed and furious, pointing a gun at Willmore in a moment of desperate rage. Yet her pain is not merely personal—it represents the betrayal of all women who trust in love in a world that values them only for what they can offer men.
Through Angellica, Behn gives voice to the emotional and moral complexity of a woman who refuses to be simplified into the role of either sinner or saint. She is both victim and critic of the patriarchal system—a woman aware of her exploitation yet striving for dignity and affection.
2. Virginia Woolf’s Tribute: Aphra Behn and Women’s Right to Speak
Centuries after Aphra Behn’s death, Virginia Woolf—one of the most influential feminist writers of the 20th century—recognized her immense contribution. In A Room of One’s Own (1929), Woolf argued that for a woman to write fiction, she must have money and a room of her own—symbols of economic independence and personal freedom.
In this context, Woolf celebrated Behn as a trailblazer:
“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.”
This statement is more than praise—it is an acknowledgment of Behn’s courage to live by her writing at a time when women had no voice in public or intellectual life.
Watch this video for more information.....
Why Aphra Behn Deserved This Praise
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Breaking Gender Barriers:Behn was the first Englishwoman to earn her living through writing. By doing so, she proved that women could be professional artists, not merely muses or readers. Her success challenged the notion that intellect and creativity were masculine qualities.
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Writing Women as Individuals:In The Rover, Behn gives her female characters agency, wit, and sexual desire. Unlike typical Restoration heroines, they are not passive objects of male pursuit. Hellena, for instance, actively pursues Willmore and refuses to be silenced or confined to a convent. This portrayal was revolutionary.
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Speaking Bold Truths:Behn’s plays often addressed taboo topics—sexuality, hypocrisy, and social inequality. She used comedy and irony to reveal moral contradictions. In doing so, she spoke her mind in a way few women dared to in her time.
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Inspiring Future Generations:Woolf’s admiration shows that Behn’s legacy endured. Every woman who writes today—whether fiction, poetry, or criticism—stands on the foundation that Behn helped build. She proved that a woman’s voice could command the public stage.
Connection Between Behn and Woolf
Both Aphra Behn and Virginia Woolf fought against silence—though in different centuries. Behn fought to exist as a writer; Woolf fought for women to be heard as equals.
Behn’s achievement was practical—she earned money through her art, proving women’s economic independence possible. Woolf’s was philosophical—she gave women the intellectual tools to claim their creative space.
Together, they form a lineage of feminist thought: from Behn’s defiant heroines to Woolf’s reflective essays, both writers argue that women must have control over their own minds, bodies, and destinies.
Women’s Voice and Freedom in The Rover
Aphra Behn’s The Rover is not just a romantic comedy—it is a subtle social protest. Her female characters—Florinda, Hellena, and Angellica—each represent different responses to patriarchal control.
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Florinda is the obedient daughter, yet she fights for the right to marry for love rather than wealth.
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Hellena is witty and rebellious, determined to avoid a life of confinement in a convent.
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Angellica represents the woman society condemns yet secretly depends upon—a woman who sees through the hypocrisy of men.
In a world where women are expected to be silent, Behn’s heroines speak their minds, pursue their desires, and question authority. This defiance reflects Behn’s own struggle as a woman writer who refused to remain silent.
Feminist Themes in The Rover
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Double Standards:Men like Willmore can freely express their sexual desires, but women like Angellica are punished for doing the same. Behn exposes this moral hypocrisy.
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Freedom and Choice:Behn’s women desire freedom—not just sexual but intellectual. Hellena’s playful wit is a weapon against male control, while Angellica’s speeches are cries for respect.
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Love and Economics:The play links love to money, showing how both marriage and prostitution are bound by financial negotiation. Behn suggests that true freedom for women can only exist when love is separated from economic dependence.
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Masks and Identity:During the Carnival, masks allow characters to escape social boundaries. For Behn, this represents a temporary liberation—a glimpse of a world where women can define themselves.
Conclusion
Aphra Behn’s The Rover remains one of the most powerful plays of the Restoration era because it dares to challenge the moral and social structures of its time. Through Angellica Bianca’s sharp critique of marriage and her tragic longing for genuine love, Behn exposes the commodification of women in a patriarchal society. Her voice—bold, witty, and fearless—calls for women’s emotional and economic independence.
Virginia Woolf’s tribute captures Behn’s legacy perfectly. By living and writing as a woman in a world that denied her both respect and equality, Aphra Behn earned not only her livelihood but also the right for all women to speak, write, and think freely.
To agree with both Angellica and Woolf is to recognize the truth that runs through centuries: women’s liberation begins when they gain control over their voice and their value. Behn’s courage to write was an act of rebellion; her words opened a door that has never been closed since.
As modern readers, we continue to “let flowers fall upon her tomb”—not merely in tribute, but in gratitude—for giving us the courage to question, to speak, and to create.
Refrences
The Rover by Aphra Behn Plot summary | LitCharts. (n.d.). LitCharts. Retrieved October 9, 2025, from https://share.google/fof9L5OjnKGY4GXwQ
Contributors to Wikimedia projects. (2025a, September 5). The Rover (play). Wikipedia. https://share.google/Jyc2fBvQG3LVfX0wa
https://youtu.be/mJT_AIdn2xg?si=cwtKZ3GHBcvw-pa5
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