Astraea Unmasked: The Desires of Aphra Behn
This project consists of a one character play about Aphra Behn (ca. 1640-1689), the first Englishwoman to write professionally, and is accompanied by a video of a performance of the monologue. Behn came to prominence during the English Restoration period and although best known as a playwright, she was also a prolific poet, translator, editor and short story writer. She traveled to the New World, served as a spy for Charles II, and created controversy both as a result of her work and her lifestyle. This imaginative work examines the unique spirit of a remarkable woman through dramatic interpretation and historic research and illustrates how Behn’s frequently difficult position as professional working woman in seventeenth century England anticipated many of the Aggies faced by women in succeeding centuries.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations