Representations of Revolution, Uprising, Political Tension and Crisis Situations in Behn’s Oroonoko and Pope’s The Rape of the Lock Kaitlyn A. Smith 11th Grade

Aphra Behn and Alexander Pope both present various situations of crisis and uprising in their works, Oroonoko and The Rape of the Lock, respectively. Although the nature and intensity of the crisis situations are very different, both authors use them to make political statements about the culture of their time. The uprising and crisis in Oroonoko condemn a certain form of slavery, while the crisis in The Rape of the Lock mocks the undue focus on trivialities of society. These authors use revolution, political tension and crisis situations as a means by which they can comment on their own society and criticize its negative characteristics.

In Behn’s Oroonoko, the main character, Oroonoko, is a strong and brave general who is often at war in his home country (190-191). War is a physical conflict with a purpose to solve a larger conflict or to put down uprisings. Warring nations must make sacrifices in order to gain something. Oroonoko is involved physically in war in his home country, which foreshadows the psychological war he will have to fight later on in his life. Behn likens him to Mars, the god of war, while comparing Imoinda to Venus (190). When Oroonoko hears the false information that Imoinda, his wife, is dead, he...