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The Actual Disappointment: The Work fo Aphra Behn Essay

Decent Essays

Aphra Behn, a remarkable author who “‘…earned… [women]…the right to speak their minds’”, who was not afraid to speak her mind herself as evident in her works, and was a writer that aided in paving the way for women’s rights through the literature world (The Norton Anthology 2308). A majority of Behn’s works serve to further the voice of women in the oppressed society in which they were living in and this work being examined is no exception to this. The Disappointment serves as a perfect satiric companion to John Wilmot’s satire The Imperfect Enjoyment, in which instead of the sympathy being placed on the “unfortunate” man who cannot perform, the consideration is retained on the woman’s feelings during this situation instead. This may not …show more content…

The connotation pertaining to this word is also negative and serves to further embellish the popular image of the time where women were just creatures that seduce men intentionally. Furthermore, the word shepherdess serves a purpose similar to these. By describing the young woman as a shepherdess, Behn is satirizing a society that is based on class where women fall more along the bottom of the totem pole. A shepherdess in that time period typically meant a woman from a poorer family who has less value than say of a woman from an aristocratic family. Here, a shepherdess is a direct reflection of a woman’s lower place in society, specifically under the men in her life. Additionally, it becomes apparent in this last stanza that Behn is staunchly supporting the woman’s perspective of the predicament taking place. This is shown through her usage of I. Throughout the entire work, the third-person point of view is being used. So, to purposefully state, “The nymph’s resentments none but I/ Can well imagine or condole:” Behn is out rightly declaring that she is a supporter of the woman’s right to be heard and this is her providing that voice for them (Behn 2313).
Moreover, the neoclassic usage in this work is striking. For instance, in the last stanza by employing the word nymph this is a direct reference to the mentioning of Daphne and a Delphic god in the previous stanza; a mythical tale in

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