Pacheco, Anita. “Royalism and Honor in Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 34, no. 3, [Rice University, Johns Hopkins University Press], 1994, pp. 491–506, https://doi.org/10.2307/450878. Accessed 27 Nov. 2021.
Pacheco argues that Behn's portrayal of Oroonoko's character and personal history reflect both a social and power shift in seventeenth-century England. The plot of Oroonoko, according to Pacheco, is undoubtedly royalist by design, but Oroonoko’s well-establshised honor and evident contridictory position as a slave in Surinam calls into question the influence and reach of royal lineage. Pacheco supports her position by highlighting Eurocentric applications to Oroonoko’s physical character (i.e. his appearance), the inheritance of his royal ranking, as well as his position in the Coramantien military. Any black or slave-like qualities that would have been attributed to his character are muted by the many eurocentric characterizations. Pacheco states that by doing so, Oroonoko’s character is established not as a rebellious and villainous slave, but as a noble hero, unjustly removed from his position. This is further reinforced by introducing and utilizing antagonistic characters like Byam and Banister, of which are arguably from less favorable places and positions in the world compared to Oroonoko. Despite their contributions to the plot, Oroonoko’s revolt and murder of his wife and unborn child are perceived as equally abhorrent. Because of this, Pacheco concludes that Oronooko’s character exists precariously between that of a noble martyr and that of a rebel who threatens the very foundation and continuation of colonization.
--Emily Tushar
