THINKING ACTIVITY ON THE ROVER

About the writer

Arpha ben was born on. 14 December 1640^[1] – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, translator and fiction writer from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barriers and served as a literary role model for later generations of women authors. Rising from obscurity, she came to the notice of Charles II, who employed her as a spy in Antwerp. Upon her return to London and a probable brief stay in debtors' prison, she began writing for the stage. She belonged to a coterie of poets and famous libertines such as John Wilmot, Lord Rochester. She wrote under the pastoral pseudonym Astrea. During the turbulent political times of the Exclusion Crisis, she wrote an epilogue and prologue that brought her into legal trouble; she thereafter devoted most of her writing to prose genres and translations. A staunch supporter of the Stuart line, she declined an invitation from Bishop Burnet to write a welcoming poem to the new king William III. She died shortly after

About the rover

The Rover or The Banish'd Cavaliers is a play in two parts that is written by the English author Aphra Behn. It is a revision of Thomas Killigrew's play Thomaso, or The Wanderer (1664), and features multiple plot lines, dealing with the amorous adventures of a group of Englishmen and women in Naples at Carnival time. According to Restoration poet John Dryden, it "lacks the manly vitality of Killigrew's play, but shows greater refinement of expression." The play stood for three centuries as "Behn's most popular and most respected play."

Character  of Angelica

beautiful and wealthy courtesan, Angelica is desired by all men in Naples, including Don Antonio, Don Pedro, and Willmore, all of whom duel over her at various points throughout the play. Although she initially vows to charge one thousand crowns a month for her company and sexual favors, putting out pictures of herself to display her own beauty, she succumbs to Willmore’s charms, and ends up falling in love with him and giving him money. When she finds that Willmore has been courting Hellena (who is rich and noble), the humiliated Angelica vows revenge, almost shooting her former lover with a pistol.

Angelica is a courtesan, a paid-for social and sexual companion who recently returned to Naples looking to take on new clients. Schott said Angelica represents a character who at the time was unheard of – an independent, self-sufficient woman who was comfortable with her sexuality.