Relationship Between Realism And Romance Oroonoko English Literature Essay

While Samuel Johnson’s short, 18th-century definition of a novel, ‘a small tale, generally of love’ [1] seems to fit Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko perfectly, it is clear on closer examination of the text that when looking at romance and realism, the definitions are more complicated, and the question remains as to which of these two genres Oroonoko truly belongs. J. A. Cuddon defined realism as a narrative ‘realistic within the limits of what it sets out to achieve’ [2] . Ian Watt, in his book The Rise of the Novel, went further, examining which components exactly made up realism. Regarding points such as ‘close attention to the passage of time’, the use of ‘common rather than conventional names’ and ‘characters drawn from a wide range of social classes’ [3] , it could be said that Oroonoko does not abide by these rules, but rather those concerning the ‘constant Loves and invincible Courages of Hero’s, Heroins, Kings and Queens’ [4] , which William Congreve argues are all components of a romance. Indeed, the royal status of the protagonist as well as the focus on his love for the beautiful Imoinda set Oroonoko up to be much more romantic than realistic; however, as Brean Hammond acknowledges, there are realistic elements too, specifically the references to real-life names and places – ‘the narrator often steps outside the frame of the fiction to refer to actual events and personalities in the London of the 1680s’ [5] . It seems more likely, therefore, that Behn has intentionally written a narrative for her reader to enjoy, as Cuddon claims, ‘whatever else a romance may be … it is principally a form of entertainment’ [6] while incorporating realistic elements to set her novella apart from the condemned romances and transport her reader realistically where the story means to take them.

Cuddon also states that realism is ‘not concerned with idealization’ [7] and bearing this in mind we could immediately call Oroonoko and Imoinda romantic characters. Oroonoko, ‘pretty tall, but of a shape the most exact that can be fancied’ had a face ‘of a perfect ebony, or a polished jet… his nose was rising and Roman’ [8] . It is clear that this is a dramatically striking character, described so flawlessly that the reader cannot help but doubt its truth. Imoinda, too, his perfect counterpart, is an idealised version of a woman, ‘the beautiful black Venus, to our young Mars; as charming in her person as he’ [9] both in external beauty and internal virtue. These hyperbolic descriptions along with Oroonoko’s royal status as a prince emphasise the two protagonists as romantic characters; this is possibly Behn’s attempt to use romantic notions to promote important ideals to an audience who would enjoy reading the romanticism in the story. Oroonoko stands for chivalry, honour and fidelity, in comparison to the materialism of the colonists who are presented in more realistic terms, in a setting that seems to relate more to the notion of realism, ‘the everyday, the normal, the pragmatic’ [10] .

Indeed, Behn claims that the last part of Oroonoko’s adventure ‘lies in a colony in America, called Surinam, in the West Indies’ [11] , a real location which puts the setting of the story in a more believable place, and therefore questions the consistency of this seemingly romantic novella. However, although this is the place that Behn refers to first, it is not where the story begins – Coramantien, though real, an ‘old world’ kingdom, seems more like a faraway, fantastical setting found in romance, with the old king, the prince and the harem of beautiful women. Cuddon claims romance ‘is usually concerned with characters (and thus with events) who live in a courtly world somewhat remote from the everyday. This suggests elements of fantasy… It also suggests elements of love’ [12] and this setting certainly seems in fitting with this description, while the unconditional bond of Oroonoko and Imoinda does not merely suggest love, but is the centre around which the novella revolves. Even when the setting shifts from Coramantien to Surinam, Behn adds an element of realism using the real names of places and people such as John Treffry – ‘the gentleman that bought him was a young Cornish gentleman, whose name was Trefry’ [13] – but the romantic notions are not completely obscured as there is the highly improbable coincidental meeting of Oroonoko and Imoinda to consider. The characters ‘wonder what strange fate had brought them again together’ [14] , and strange is clearly the word to describe the meeting; Brean Hammond argues reasonably that ‘Oroonoko, sold into slavery, arrives at precisely the same plantation as Imoinda has been taken to, which is the kind of coincidence that occurs in romance rather than in “real life”‘ [15] .

It is true that while there is overwhelming evidence of romanticism in Oroonoko, Behn certainly tries to create a sense of realism in places, such as the reference to real people and places as mentioned above, as well as referring to her own supposed eye-witness accounts of happenings. Hammond goes on to say ‘there are ‘realistic’ elements in tension with these romance conventions. The narrator often steps outside the frame of the fiction to refer to actual events and personalities in the London of the 1680s; and inside the fiction there are topographical descriptions, accounts of native customs and habits that seem authentic’ [16] and it seems that Behn’s first person narrative relating the story of Oroonoko effectively gives some sense of authenticity to the story. Even her opening line, ‘I do not pretend… to entertain my reader with the adventures of a feigned hero’ [17] , claims that she is relating a true story, and she goes on to establish herself as sympathetic to the romantically perfect Oroonoko, so keeping the reader on her side, as well as relating some parts in first person, as to show that she, the trusted narrator, had contact with this too-good-to-be-true prince, and give it more credibility – ‘I was obliged… to discourse with Caesar’ [18] .

By intentionally combining romantic notions with a sense of realism, Behn successfully portrays important values through her beautiful characters while adding credibility to her narrative with her references to real places, people and probably objects that she herself had seen or owned. At the time that this novella was written, it would have been more accepted to write a realistic story than a romantic one which had become associated with implausibility and over-the-top pleasurable literature. Of course, the gruesome end to the perfect couple reinstates the idea that it is not fully romantic, and Behn strives to reach a wider audience by combining all these factors of romance and realism into an accessible, enjoyable novella with believable and indeed some completely real elements.