Oroonoko and characterisation Essay Example

to dramatize the historicity and high tragic nature of the novel, while also claiming to reveal a 'true history' that is highlighted on the title page of the text.

Furthermore, Figlerowicz notes that it is through the use of her narrator that Behn is able to direct the readers' scrutiny and attention from Oroonoko to his onlookers, without causing them to lose empathy or regard for him. This is highlighted through the main events of the text, which are all displayed in front of the masses, and crowds, who react to and comment on whatever Oroonoko says or does. These images and situations where the masses are particularly noted to create and develop the broader framework of the novel as 'immediate physical presence of a collective 'we' of European and indigenous observers'. Which reassures the readers that the 'narrator is no less physical than the other characters that are described. 'This concept then gives Behn novel a broader relevance in regards to travel writings, as it explores the tension that lay in a culturally and socially diverse society.

In conjunction this theatrical and dramatic emphasis that Behn puts on the public nature of Oroonoko's life allows the narrator to reveal a strong sense of authenticity and honesty of the tale despite the exotic nature of the events that are described. In essence, Figlerowicz's article "Frightful Spectacles of a Mangled King': Aphra Behn's Oroonoko and Narration Through Theater' looks at Aphra Behn's Oroonoko through the fusion of genre and the result of this fusion on structure, but also the role of the narrator and characters within the text and their involvement within the development of the novel's structure.