and more – to my soul, than to obey those unjust commands.” – Florinda (The Rover, I. i. 18-22) In this first quote, Florinda expresses her opposition to arranged marriages. It was a common practice in the seventeenth century, especially among the higher classes as it is the case, that the father would be the responsible for the choice of husband. The fact that Florinda is openly against this practice proves that women were not as submissive as they might seem, but there was no other honorable way for them to be finantially independent, for they depended first on the father – or the brother, as in the play – and then on the husband. Related to this vision, here follows another quote to illustrate it: “I hate Vincentio, sir, and I would not have a man so dear to me as my brother follow the ill customs of our country and make a slave of his sister […]” – Florinda (The Rover, I. i. 62-65) After stating her position about the matter of arranged marriages, Florinda compares this practice to slavery. The relationship between a male member of the family with the daughter or the sister is shown as similar to that of the master and the slave, respectively. In that sense, marriage is a mere transaction in which one part (the family, embodied in the figure of the brother in The Rover) obtains profit by selling or using the services of the other part (the lady). It is suprising that a female character declares her position on these matters so severely and openly, since that was not very lady-like. However, it is important to highlight that women in the play have very strong personalities and step out of the standards of womanhood to some extent. The other vision of marriage that will be analysed is that of marriage as the dead of love. “Hold, hold, no bug words, child. Priest and Hymen! Prithee add a hang-man to ‘em to make up the consort. No, no, we’ll have no vows but love, child, not witness but the lover; the kind deity enjoin naught but love and enjoy! Hymen and priest wait still upon portion and jointure. Love and beauty have their own ceremonies. Marriage is a certain bane to love as lending money is to friendship; I’ll neither ask nor give a vow – though I could be contente to turn gipsy and become a left-handed bridegroom, to have the pleasure of working that great miracle of making a maid a mother, if you durst venture. ‘Tis upse gipsy that, and if I miss, I’ll lose my labour” – Willmore .

1. The Rover and important
themes
Marriage, PROSTITUTION
Presented by
( Mahir Pari Goswami )

2. Marriage
• It is very clear that the theme of marriage is a
constant in Aphra Behn's play. Act I focuses on
a conversation between two of the female
character, Florinda and Hellena, about it.
• The fact that fromthe beginning marriage is
already a question of discussion advances the
importance of the topic in the story.

3. • The first vision of marriage that we will deal with is
that of marriage as a form of submission
ofwomen's will. There are two quotes that illustrate
this very clearly:
• “With indignation; and how near soever my father
thinks I am to marrying that hated object
[Vincentio], I shall let him see I understand
better what’s due to my beauty, birth, and
fortune,and more – to my soul, than to
obey those unjust commands.” – Florinda
(The Rover, I. i. 18-22)

4. • In this first quote, Florinda expresses her
opposition to arranged marriages. It was a
common practice in the seventeenth century,
especially among the higher classes as it is the
case, that the father would be the responsible
for the choice of husband.
• The fact that Florinda is openly against this
practice proves that women were not as
submissive as they might seem, but there was
no other honorable way for them to be
finantially independent, for they depended
first on the father – or the brother, as in the
play – and then on the husband.

5. Arranged marriages and slavery
• Related to this vision, here follows another
quote to illustrate it:
• “I hate Vincentio, sir, and I would not have a
man so dear to me as my brother follow the
ill customs of our country and make a slave
of his sister […]” – Florinda (The Rover, I. i.
62-65)

6. • After stating her position about the matter
of arranged marriages, Florinda compares
this practice to slavery. The relationship
between a male member of the family
with the daughter or the sister is shown as
similar to that of the master and the slave,
respectively.
• In that sense, marriage is a mere
transaction in which one part (the family,
embodied in the figure of the brother in
The Rover) obtains profit by selling or
using the services of the other part (the
lady).

7. • It is suprising that a female character
declares her position on these matters so
severely and openly, since that was not very
lady-like. However, it is important to
highlight that women in the play have very
strong personalities and step out of the
standards of womanhood to some extent.

8. • Marriage is a certain bane to love as lending
money is to friendship; I’ll neither ask nor give
a vow – though I could be contente to turn
gipsy and become a left-handed bridegroom,
to have the pleasure of working that great
miracle of making a maid a mother, if you
durst venture. ‘Tis upse gipsy that, and if I
miss, I’ll lose my labour” – Willmore (The
Rover, V. i. 433-443)

9. • This excerpt presents Willmore's view of
marriage. In order to fully understand it, it
is necessary to provide a definition for the
term bane. According to the Oxford English
Dictionary, bane is “a slayer or murder; one
who causes death or destruction of
another.” Thus, Willmore condemns
marriage as the responsible for the death of
love. Ironically, Willmore accepts to marry
Hellena at the end of the play.

10. •PROSTITUTION

11. • The first quote we will be paying attention
to is the following:
• “Why yes, sir, they are whores, though
they’ll neither entertain you with drinking,
swearing, or bawdry; are whores in all
those gay clothes and right jewels; are
whores with those great houses richly
furnished with velvet beds, store of plate,
handsome attendance, and fine coaches;
are whores, and arrant ones” – Belvile
(The Rover, II. i. 71-75)

12. • Belvile's statement implies that every
woman, despite her status in society, is a
whore. If she behaves like a prostitute, then
that is exactly what she will be forever.
Once a whore, always a whore. Not only
Belvile thinks that, but also most of the
male characters in The Rover. Throughout
the play,there is a certain generalization
about women and their status.

13. • One example of this is the scenewhere
Blunt tries to rape Florinda simply because
he has been previously cheated by “a fin
ladylike whore” (The Rover, IV. v. 8).
• The actions of one particular woman have
repercusions on another, thus asuming that
all women are the same and behave the
same way

14. • Also, it is relevant to mention the
ambivalence in the use of the word wench.
Every single woman in the play, lady or not,
are referred to as wenches. The term may
refer to a young woman or to a prostitute.
• That choice of words might not be as
random as it seems, and in that case it
would support the idea that every woman
is a whore until proved otherwise.

15. • The second vision of prostitution focuses on
the perspective of Angellica Bianca, and on the
reason why she is in that position.
• “But inconstancy’s the sin of all mankind,
therefore I’m resolved that nothing but gold
shall charm my heart”- Angellica Bianca (The
Rover, II.i.137-138)
• If we focus only on this quote in isolation, it is
very clear that Angellica's situation has been a
choice she made herself. In fact, it is by being
a whore that she gets to be the only finantially
independent woman in the play.

16. • However, taking into account the situation of
women in the seventeenth century, it could be
a question of discussion whether Angellica
decided to become a prostitute by personal
choice or if it is merely a decision she had to
make not to depend on any man.
• In any case, the figure of the prostitute in The
Rover presents a different type of woman.
Although she is regarded as a whore, Angellica
stands in a certain position of power, for all
men want to have sex with her, but not all of
them can due to the high cost of her services.

17. • When Angellica falls in love with Willmore
and gives herself to him for free, that
delusional powerful position vanishes.There
is another matter that should be discussed
here as well. The objectification of women
is inherent to prostitution, and as such it is
present in The Rover. However, in the play it
seems to be certain switch of roles
between women and men, and there are
two particular cases that could be
categorised as cases of objectification of
men.

18. • On the one hand, there is the scene where
Hellena expresses very openly that she
just wants to go to the Carnival to find a
man with whom she can have sex.
• On the other hand, there is the character
of Willmore. At one point, he lays with
Angellica Bianca and gets money from her
afterwards.
• Although she gives it to him out of love,
Willmore does not have any feelings for
her whatsoever ,thus he is given money in
exchange for sex.

19. •These two moments can be easily
considered examples of
objectification of men, since in both
cases they are perceived as mere
pawns in the game of sex, more
openly in the first case and more
subtly in the second.

20. Work Citation
• Martinez, Raquel. “Marriage and Prostitution
in Aphra Behn's The Rover.” Academia.edu,
www.academia.edu/14064486/Marriage_an
d_Prostitution_in_Aphra_Behns_The_Rover.