OROONOKO - THE ORIGINAL CLASSI

Oroonoko is a short work of prose fiction by Aphra Behn (1640-1689), published in 1688, concerning the love of its hero, an enslaved African in Surinam in the 1660s, and the author's own experiences in the new South American colony. Oroonoko is a relatively short novel whose full title is Oroonoko: or, the Royal Slave. The novel concerns the grandson of an African king, Prince Oroonoko, who falls in love with Imoinda, the daughter of that king's top general. The king, too, falls in love with Imoinda. He gives Imoinda the sacred veil, thus commanding her to become one of his wives, even though she was already married to Oroonoko. After unwillingly spending time in the king's harem (the Otan), Imoinda and Oroonoko plan a tryst with the help of the sympathetic Onahal and Aboan. They are eventually discovered, and because she has lost her virginity, Imoinda is sold as a slave. The king's guilt, however, leads him to falsely inform Oroonoko that she has been executed, since death was thought to be better than slavery.