Essay Questions

In what ways is Miranda different from the traditional heroine of a novella?

Generally, we quite like the heroine of a novella. Often we feel sorry for her, enraged for her, oddly loyal to her in a way that makes us long for some kind of romantic karma that will catch up with the lover who has wronged her. It would be hard to say any of these things about Miranda, because she is essentially a narcissist with avarice at her core.

Miranda's priority in life is Miranda. At her heart, she is a brat whose need to get her own way is so powerful that she needs to avenge any refusal to comply with her wishes. For example, when her overtures of love are rejected, she accuses the man of rape. When her sister will not give her money, she tries to kill her sister. This is not a woman who takes no for an answer. She is spoiled and willful, and has vengeance in her soul. This is not the traditional heroine with whom we find it easy to identify.

Behn claims that the events in this novella are true. Do you believe her?

It's hard to believe that this novella is a report of events that actually happened, but then, sometimes when one reads the newspaper it is hard to believe that some of the reports contained within have any basis in real life either. Perhaps because journalism and reporting are so wholly subjective, it is hard to disprove Behn's claim without calling her a liar outright.

It is far more likely that the characters involved are based on real people, and that their actions are based in truth, but elaborated and embroidered upon by Behn. It is not hard to believe that Miranda was a spoiled woman who wanted her own way, or that she was greedy enough about money to try to kill her sister for financial gain - after all, a perfunctory look at Forensic Files tells us that people do this every day. What is harder to believe is Behn's intimations about the magic power contained in Miranda's beauty; that she somehow harnessed this to make people do whatever it was that she wanted. The events could be based in truth, but now, with the addition of a huge amount of poetic license, need to be taken with a pinch of salt, and assumed to be a hybrid of journalism and fiction.