This Blog is assigned by Megha Ma'am as a thinking activity of "The Rover " by Aphra Behn.
1) Angellica considers the financial negotiations that one makes before marrying a prospective bride the same as prostitution. Do you agree? write blog
Marriage, Money, and Morality: Angellica 's View on Financial Negotiations
In many literary works, particularly from the Restoration period, characters like Angellica Bianca from Aphra Behn’s The Rover offer bold insights into love, marriage, and economics. Angellica, a courtesan who charges men for her affection, provocatively questions society’s morality. When she observes that marriages often involve financial bargains dowries, wealth, and status she argues that such negotiations are not far removed from prostitution. This raises a powerful question: Are financial arrangements in marriage similar to transactional love?
Angellica’s Argument
Angellica points out a central hypocrisy. Society condemns her for openly exchanging love for money, yet accepts marital arrangements where a bride’s worth is measured through dowry, inheritance, or social status. In many cases, love plays little role—marriage becomes a contract, not a connection. For her, the only difference is that she is honest about the cost of affection, while society hides its transactions behind the word “respectability.”
Do I Agree?
To an extent, yes, Angellica’s critique holds truth. When marriage is reduced to financial bargaining—where a bride or groom is chosen based on wealth rather than affection—it mirrors a transaction. Both involve an exchange: money for companionship, security, or social advancement.
However, genuine marriage is meant to be different. A true marriage is rooted in:
When these elements are present, money becomes a practical concern, not the foundation of the relationship.
The Real Issue: Hypocrisy vs. Honesty
Angellica exposes society’s hypocrisy. She is scorned for commercializing love, yet society often rewards marriages built on wealth and status. She asks a bold question: Is it nobler to sell love openly, or to wrap the same transaction in sacred vows?
Modern Reflection
Even today, financial expectations—dowry, gifts, luxurious weddings—continue in many cultures. When these overshadow emotional compatibility, Angellica’s critique becomes painfully relevant. Marriage turns into a deal, not devotion.
Conclusion
Angellica’s comparison is a sharp moral mirror, not an attack on marriage itself. She does not condemn love—she condemns bargained love. So yes, when marriage is driven by money rather than mutual affection, it edges dangerously close to the transactional nature she describes.
True love is priceless; it cannot be negotiated, purchased, or performed.
When marriage becomes a marketplace, Angellica’s words echo with uncomfortable truth.
2) All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.” Virginia Woolf said so in ‘A Room of One’s Own’. Do you agree with this statement? Justify your answer with reference to your reading of the play ‘The Rover’.
Aphra Behn: The Woman Who Gave Women a Voice
When Virginia Woolf wrote these famous lines, she wasn’t exaggerating. Aphra Behn, the 17th-century playwright and author, was one of the first English women to earn a living through writing. But more than that—she dared to give women a voice in a world that silenced them.
Her play, The Rover, is living proof of her revolutionary spirit.
The Rover: Women Who Speak, Choose, and Challenge
In The Rover, Aphra Behn doesn’t present quiet, obedient women. Instead, she gives us Hellena, Florinda, and Angellica Bianca—women who question, desire, and resist. At a time when marriage was a business deal and women had no say, Behn’s characters fight for their right to love, to speak, and to decide.
Hellena – The Rebel of the Convent
Destined to become a nun, Hellena refuses to accept a life chosen for her. She boldly declares her right to explore love and pleasure—something unheard of for women on stage at the time.
Florinda – The Voice of Romantic Freedom
Florinda rejects forced marriage and demands the right to marry for love. She risks her safety to protect her heart. Through her, Behn questions the cruel tradition of treating women as property.
Angellica Bianca – The Bold Mirror to Society
Angellica, a courtesan, exposes society’s hypocrisy. She asks:
“If men bargain for a wealthy wife, how is it different when I sell my love?”
With this daring line, Behn forces us to rethink morality, marriage, and the price women pay.
Why Virginia Woolf Honoured Aphra Behn
Woolf believed that Behn did something radical—she wrote without apology. She entered a profession reserved for men and proved that women’s thoughts were worth paying for. Every woman who writes today—novelist, poet, blogger—walks a path Behn helped build.
Do We Owe Aphra Behn Flowers?
Yes.
Because she made women visible.
Because she showed that women can love, argue, dream, and speak.
Because she opened the door to female creativity, centuries before feminism had a name.
Final Thought
Aphra Behn was not just a playwright. She was a protest—wrapped in poetry.
Through The Rover, she gave women what society denied them: a voice.
So when Virginia Woolf says women should lay flowers on her tomb, it is not merely a tribute—
It is gratitude to the woman who dared to begin the conversation we continue today.
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