Dramatic and Narrative Techniques in the Novellas of Aphra Behn

Abstract

The various ways in which Aphra Behn's prose works can be connected to her dramatic output have interested scholars of both Behn and seventeenth- and eighteenth-century prose fiction more generally in recent decades, in light of similarities in the staging of settings, thematic and characterization connections, and Behn's adaptation of dramatic scenes for her prose fiction. This article looks at three of her early novellas—“The Fair Jilt” (1688), “The History of the Nun” (1689) and “The Lucky Mistake” (1689)—and adds to existing scholarship by examining how Behn uses frame-breaking techniques and metalepses in a similar way to metatheatrical methods, blurring the lines between the world of the text and the world of the audience. The features that are examined include the prologue-like expositions (or pre-expositions) to her stories, described as such because of their philosophical preoccupations and lack of emphasis on traditional topics such as setting and character, as well as her employment of narrator comments, which, in Behn's hands, can act like asides in a play, focusing on character consciousness or providing narratorial commentary. This article also shows how mimetic techniques such as these are mixed with diegetic techniques such as focalization (narrative perspective) in order to demonstrate how Behn's novellas, like her plays, present plots driven by verbal artistry.