Let me say that being told that all of the characters in
Oroonoko fall within a gray area has tinged my reading of the story. I am constantly trying to read between the lines to figure out both the pros and cons of characters. However, Aphra Behn makes it more difficult to see the bad parts of certain characters. Imoinda specifically seems to continually be getting the short end of the stick from every single character.
She so far Imoinda has lost everything because other people have decided to make decisions for her. First her father died protecting Oroonoko. Then after she decided to marry Oroonoko the king forced her to become his concubine. Then because Oroonoko wanted to claim her for himself, he snuck in and had sex with her. This caused the king to sentence her to slavery. So far, this does not seem like the best story for Imoinda. I am looking forward to see if Imoinda will be able to either make her own choices or even have the option of being a "grey-character" in the second part of the reading.
But now on to Prince Oroonoko, what a guy! He is pictured to be this great guy but in all honestly I do not see him that great. At face value he seems to be a very respectful prince who the people trust and adore, however, there is more to him then that. He also seems to be a bit clingy in my opinion. That is not to say that he had no right to be upset that his soon-to-be wife was taken to be a concubine for the king. He has every right to be upset for this. However, was sneaking into the palace to have sex with her and mark her as his own really necessary? I feel that there could have been a better way of going about that whole situation.
I was also really distressed that Imoinda didn't get to make her own decisions in what we read. Women's autonomy is important! But at least we can criticize Behn's internalized misogyny for sidelining one of the main characters in her own story. I also agree that Oroonoko, just as a person, is really overrated, but I guess that's kind of the point? We'll see how it all plays out.
ReplyDeleteTo be completely honest, I don't think Oroonoko is such a bad guy. I think he had a lot of terrible things happen to both him and his wife, and if anything, he's a victim. Of course, that opinion could easily just be influenced by the narrator and how she decided to tell the story, but I do think that he is the victim in this situation and how he reacts to the things that happen to him is honestly kind of sad.
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your images because they transport you into the dream. All your images portray this dream world of native people being forced into slavery. There is something unreal or surreal about having a society where a people go to war to ends lives. I mean they really killed people to take control of distant lands. It is something we can depersonalize and in which we never personally take part unless we choose to serve in the military. I imagine that had I been alive during World War Two, I would not have know what to do with myself. It would have been exciting because we were accomplishing something great. It would probably have been exciting to go into a different country to explore and eating different food. Everyone would dance differently. We could have run around the different destroyed towns with shell shock and guns. We could steal things from the houses that have been left demolished or left standing. I was watching the movie “On the Western Front” and I realized for kids going off to war it can be exciting to get the chance to kill someone. It also can be exciting to leave home and experiment. People today probably find experimenting with drugs exciting. There are all these different factors that are exciting to watch or experience when one travels to a foreign country. I was excited when I traveled to an island such as Hawaii and got to sit on the sand and play in the bright blue water. I had never been to a beach where people could drink on the beach but I’m sure there are some beaches in Maryland that would allow that. I am pretty sure you need that exotic warm weather and family or no family or maybe by yourself or maybe with you boyfriend or girlfriend to make it a new experience. It sounds rather exotic to travel to Africa and to meet tribesmen. You might be frightened of the weather, or the food, or the things that these people carry in their systems or blood. You might be frightened of what they might be like. It would be exciting nevertheless. I would also be frightened of native Americans because I run the risk of being killed. I only mention native Americans because in your photos they seem very similar to Africans. I would keep my distance from going to Africa or going anywhere distantly diseased or doing anything extremely dangerous. It is like sky diving or experimenting with drugs. Falling out of an airplane seems thrilling but it is also very frightening and I don’t think I would want to chance it. It sounds exotic and edgy but I don’t want to die either