Abstract
In the hands of Aphra Behn (1640-89), the inherently imitative genre of the pastoral assumes interesting dimensions. The artificiality of the golden age and the stock dramatic action of one-dimensional nymphs and swains are enlivened and given depth as she manipulates convention to produce a strikingly different kind of verse. Sexual and political authority appear to overlap in her poems and a host of subversive women's stories emerge, featuring powerful heroines equipped not only with sexual and political, but also authorial power. Her pastorals offer a powerful revision of the pastoral in terms of constructing a space for the articulation of female desire and also for their challenges to heteronormativity in the pastoral tradition and in culture at large. Behn's style explores female sexuality, relationships, politics, marriage, and social issues from a personal and intimate perspective, and lends insight into the creative mind and life of the Restoration female poet.
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