Essay - Aphra Behn Oroonoko & Zora Neale Hurston 'How it Feels......

Aphra Behn Oroonoko & Zora Neale Hurston "How It Feels... "

***** American and Ethnic Literary Analysis of the Novel Oroonoko: or The Royal Slave (1633) by Aphra ***** ***** the Essay "***** it ***** to be Col*****ed Me" (1928) by Zora ***** Hurs*****n

Two works containing e*****her African or African American themes, ***** Behn's novel Oroonoko: ***** The Royal Slave (1633) and Zora Neale Hurston's essay "How It Feels to be Colored Me" (1928), when compared against one another, reveal considerable differences in the perspectives ***** their authors: in the first case, a 17th century white Englishwom*****n; and in the second, a late 19th and early 20th century African American woman folklorist descended from slaves ("***** Neale Hurston"). In this essay, using ***** American and ethnic literary analysis of both works, I will explore ***** analyze similarities and distinctions in the ways that both authors deal with the subjects ***** American or African ***** identity and black-white relationships, within their respective literary *****.

Aphra Behn's novel Oroonoko: or The ***** Slave (1633) descri*****s, from the perspective of a white British 17th century female author, Aphra Behn, ***** sad yet fascinating and (especially from a ***** European perspective) exotic story of a young African prince, Oroonoko (later captured by the British, enslaved and renamed Caesar as his "slave name" - a name *****, ironically, fur*****r underscores his original noble heritage). As Holmesland (Spring 2001) observes of this novel:

***** narrator reveals her contradictory position: she is a conservative, but with leanings towards the new world ***** mercantile expansionism. Though she apparently encourages liberty and enlightenment, ***** seems to rely on virtues valued by the traditi*****al hierarchy for order and stability. Her dual position seeks [but does not find] its dialectical reconciliation in *****.

Aphra ***** Oroonoko: Cultural Dialectics and the *****," pp. 57*****58)..

***** example, ***** himself is, ***** Aphra Behn tells us at ***** s*****ry's beg*****ning, an extremely handsome (especially by European Caucasian standards) young man. As Behn describes Oroonoko's physical a*****earance, for example:

***** most famous Statuary cou'd not ********** the Figure of a M*****n more admirably turn'd from head to foot...H***** Nose was rising and Roman, instead of ***** ***** flat. His Mouth, the finest shap'd that could be seen...The whole

Proportion and Air of his Face was so noble, and exactly form'd, *****, bating his Colour, there ***** ***** nothing in Nature ***** beautiful, agreeable, ***** ***** [emphasis added] (Behn, Oroonoko: or The Royal Slave, p. 13).

***** unidentified first per*****n narrator, who ***** the story but does not participate in the main plot, is perhaps Behn herself, or, if not, simply an unnamed white narrator. ***** any event, the ***** clearly is not told from either an Afric***** or an African American literary *****; and belies various racial ***** ethnic prejudices on the part ***** its auth*****, e.g., that Oroonoko was beautiful formed and perfect looking, "***** i.e., except for] his Colour" (Behn, p. 13),

The young ***** prince Oroonoko, who is later made into