Aphra Behn, the 17th-century author, is best known as the first Englishwoman to make a living from her writing - but despite her barrier-breaking accomplishments, she is not a household name.
Behn’s legacy has endured thanks in part to Virginia Woolf, who lauded the writer in her seminal 1929 essay A Room of One’s Own. Woolf presented Behn as a rare model for young women who dream of one day becoming professional writers.
“For now that Aphra Behn had done it, girls could go to their parents and say, ‘You need not give me an allowance; I can make money by my pen,’” writes Woolf. “Of course the answer for many years to come was, ‘Yes, by living the life of Aphra Behn! Death would be better!’ And the door was slammed faster than ever.” One particularly quotable line comes a few paragraphs later: “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.”
Behn was a prolific writer and experimented with various forms. Her body of work includes the well-known comedy The Rover, which is still staged today, and novels like Oroonoko, the “true history” of an African prince’s enslavement at the hands of white Christians.
The details of her early life are hazy. According to some accounts, she was born near Canterbury in 1640. In 1664, she married a merchant but, after her husband’s death, she found herself in an uncertain financial state. This solidified Behn’s determination to earn a living with her writing, “having vowed never to depend on anyone else for money again,” per the Poetry Foundation. She worked as a professional writer for the rest of her life.
Despite her success as a writer during her life time, she has largely disappeared into obscurity - despite Virginia Woolf's efforts. However, Behn is finally starting to get the recognition she deserves and, in an effort to champion her legacy, a year-long series of events has been organised by Canterbury Christ Church University and Loughborough University. This includes lectures, public readings, and poetry workshops.
Last week, the Canterbury Players performed one of Behn’s most controversial plays, The Amorous Prince, or, The Curious Husband, which had not been staged since 1671. A two-month-long exhibition on her story is also on view at the Beaney, a Canterbury museum, during July and August.
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