ENGL 220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Oroonoko, Noble Savage, Political Correctness
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How did it reflect english prose fiction was evolving. Closer to what we called novel nowadays. The relationship between oroonoko and the narrator. They soon informed each other when she could gaze on oroonoko . Western feature that makes him look attractive (page 1238) What might be able to account for her depiction. In her era, this type of account is positive. Because black men were considered as barbaric, to humanize. To westernize oroonoko is to please her readers. Other characters (the slave traders) are less human than oroonoko. Ironic because he himself is a slave and is traded toward the end of the book. Oroonoko is a noble savage or not. Oroonoko is not human until he is taught by europeans. Maybe behn was meeting her reader halfway. He had nothing of barbarity in his nature (1238) Oroonoko is not characterized as someone who practices polygyny. A courtly lover only has one mate.
