Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-272) and index.

Preliminary Material -- INTRODUCTION -- ROMANCE, RESTORATION, AND EXCLUSION IN THE YOUNG KING: OR, THE MISTAKE -- HIGH, BOLD REBELLS AND PHANTASTICK COURTIERS IN THE FORC’D MARRIAGE, OR THE JEALOUS BRIDEGROOM -- SEXUAL DEVIANCE AND UNIVERSAL ORDER IN THE AMOROUS PRINCE, OR, THE CURIOUS HUSBAND -- THE RAKE, THE WHORE, AND THE THIRD DUTCH WAR IN THE DUTCH LOVER -- BLEEDING HEARTS AND KILLING DARTS IN ABDELAZER, OR THE MOOR’S REVENGE -- CONCLUSION -- DECLARATION OF BREDA AND LETTER -- PROCLAMATIONS FOR SUPPRESSION WHEREAS BY AN ORDER . . . -- DECLARATION OF INDULGENCE -- PROCLAMATIONS AGAINST POPERY -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX.

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Of Love and War: The Political Voice in the Early Plays of Aphra Behn is a study which situates Behn’s early plays within their historical and political context. Behn (c.1640-1689), the first professional female playwright in England, is a fascinating study, having traveled to Surinam as a young woman, served as a spy for Charles II, and evidently supported her family through her writing, including plays, poetry, fiction, and translation. Her early plays have often been dismissed as romances, largely because they treat such social and/or gender issues as forced marriage and female desire. This study argues that these same social issues frequently serve as tropes for political commentary and propaganda in support of foreign and domestic policies. Behn’s plays clearly demonstrate staunch loyalist support of the Stuart government, yet within the dramatic construction, she—like her contemporary male colleagues, offers fascinating covert political criticism.