The Rover: Aphra Behn
TOPIC: Women's Right in Marriage and Family in The Rover
The Rover by Aphra Behn was written in the restoration era. In this play, Behn demonstrates the
themes of love, marriage, sex, and the emancipation of women from male oppression. The Rover
presents women characters struggling for freedom and equality in a male-dominated world. The
play gives an insight into the patriarchal structure prevalent in the 17th century in which women
were deprived of their rights and their fate was determined by the male members of the family.
The women characters in the play refuse to subscribe to the norms and brawl for their freedom &
equality. In love, they follow their own will, while in matters of marriage, they refuse to accept
the fate decided by their brother or father.
The 17th Century Restoration of the Monarchy with Charles II at the helm of affairs was a period
of transition for English Society. The theaters shut down by Puritans were reopened. The new
theaters had women actors on the stage as well. The typical restoration comedy had a young
male protagonist who was involved in drinking, whoring, and theater-going. It was common for
them to have mistresses, they had the will and choice to seek pleasure with whoever they wanted.
They were usually cavaliers, who had no resources for earning money except through marriage
to an heiress or woman of high birth. In the play, Florinda is found rebelling against an arranged
marriage to an old man; she wants a say in the choice of her marriage partner.
The early scenes of the play make clear, that there are three options for women in society,
marriage, convent, or prostitution. Marriages are arranged by men for their own political or
financial benefit After marriage, the wife moves from being controlled by the men of her family
to being controlled by her husband. As Lawrence Stone states, “by marriage, the husband and
wife became one person in law - and that person was the husband. He acquired absolute control
of all his wife’s personal property which he could sell at will.”
TOPIC: Women's Right in Marriage and Family in The Rover
The Rover by Aphra Behn was written in the restoration era. In this play, Behn demonstrates the
themes of love, marriage, sex, and the emancipation of women from male oppression. The Rover
presents women characters struggling for freedom and equality in a male-dominated world. The
play gives an insight into the patriarchal structure prevalent in the 17th century in which women
were deprived of their rights and their fate was determined by the male members of the family.
The women characters in the play refuse to subscribe to the norms and brawl for their freedom &
equality. In love, they follow their own will, while in matters of marriage, they refuse to accept
the fate decided by their brother or father.
The 17th Century Restoration of the Monarchy with Charles II at the helm of affairs was a period
of transition for English Society. The theaters shut down by Puritans were reopened. The new
theaters had women actors on the stage as well. The typical restoration comedy had a young
male protagonist who was involved in drinking, whoring, and theater-going. It was common for
them to have mistresses, they had the will and choice to seek pleasure with whoever they wanted.
They were usually cavaliers, who had no resources for earning money except through marriage
to an heiress or woman of high birth. In the play, Florinda is found rebelling against an arranged
marriage to an old man; she wants a say in the choice of her marriage partner.
The early scenes of the play make clear, that there are three options for women in society,
marriage, convent, or prostitution. Marriages are arranged by men for their own political or
financial benefit After marriage, the wife moves from being controlled by the men of her family
to being controlled by her husband. As Lawrence Stone states, “by marriage, the husband and
wife became one person in law - and that person was the husband. He acquired absolute control
of all his wife’s personal property which he could sell at will.”
