The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume I

Aphra Behn wrote like she had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. In this volume of Restoration comedies, she stakes her claim as the first English woman to refuse poverty and silence, demanding to be heard in a world that believed women had no right to a voice. The Rover, her masterpiece, pulses with carnival energy: a group of aristocratic Cavaliers roam Naples during Lent, pursuing pleasure and profit, while Hellena, a spirited heiress, disguises herself as a gypsy to catch a husband before her brother can sell her to a convent. The Dutch Lover twists cross-cultural romance into sharp comedy about national pride and seductive intrigue. The Roundheads takes aim at the politics of restoration, mocking the Puritans who purged the stage of exactly this kind of irreverent, dangerous fun. These plays crackle with sexual frankness, sharp class satire, and women who scheme, speak, and refuse to be ornamental. Behn's dramatic voice is muscular, funny, and unafraid. For anyone who believes literature began with men, she is the firebreak.