Aphra Behn drew influence from William Shakespeare's plays such as The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Othello, and The Winter's Tale when writing her own play The Forced Marriage. Specifically, she explored similar themes of the evils of forced marriage, domestic violence, female dominance over men, jealousy, and using death to teach lessons. Behn shared ideas with Shakespeare regarding gender, love, and marriage. While some viewed borrowing from other writers as improper, Behn and many other artists gained inspiration and learned from influential predecessors.

1. The Shakespearian Behn Reformation dramatist AphraBehn drew influence from William Shakespeare’s works to not only improve the quality of her early play The Forced Marriage, but to express shared ideas of gender and sexual politics

2. Who is AphraBehn? First woman playwright Somewhat mysterious life Lived in during the 1600s, died in 1689 Went to Surinam as a child Married a Dutch merchant After his death, she was poor Spied for the English government Thrown into jail for unpaid fines Started writing plays in order to support herself Women playwrights and actresses were a novelty For marketability, Behn draws influence from a popular playwright: William Shakespeare Found shared beliefs about gender, love, and marriage For more information, refer to Janet Todd’s The Secret Life of AphraBehn

3. The Forced Marriage Characters Erminia: protagonist, forced to marry Alcippus, but secretly engaged to Phillander Alcippus: warrior, husband to Erminia Phillander: Prince of France, loves Erminia Galatea: princess of France, loves Alcippus Erminia loves Phillander, but wants to stay faithful to both men Meanwhile, both men accuse her of cheating Because of this jealousy, Alcippus kills Erminia However, Erminia’s servant revives her, and therefore Erminia goes to her love, Phillander She pretends to be a ghost, and convinces Alcippus to not only null the marriage, but marry Galatea

4. Influence from Shakespeare’s works Behn is inspired by several of William Shakespeare’s plays when writing her play, The Forced Marriage Taming of the Shrew Evils of forced marriage Domestic violence from husbands Macbeth Women domineering men Othello Jealousy Murder of wives The Winter’s Tale Uses death to teach a lesson

5. Connections with Taming of the Shrew Evils of forced marriages Neither Erminia nor Katherine want to be married Both Alcippus and Petruchio recognize their wives unhappiness Domestic violence from husbands Petruchio Starvation and sleep-deprivation “For I am he am born to tame you, Kate/ And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate/ Conformable as other household Kates” (2.1. 268-270). Alcippus Literally strikes Erminia “Recal that folly, or by all that’s good,/ I’le free the soul that wantons in thy blood” (2.3. 68-69).

6. Connections with Macbeth Women domineering over men Erminia over Phillander Phillander to Erminia: “Life of my soul, retire, I cannot hear that voice and disobey” (2.7. 64-65) Lady Macbeth over Macbeth “Hie thee hither [Macbeth], That I may pour my spirits in thine ear/ and chastise with the valour of my tongue” (1.5 23-25) Both women use this dominance to gain political power for themselves Erminia can manipulate a prince Lady Macbeth can become queen

7. Connections with Othello Jealous Othello is jealous of Cassio for sleeping with Desdemona However, Cassio never sleeps with Desdemona! Alcippus thinks Erminia’s slept with Phillander Erminia’s never slept with Phillander! Phillander thinks Erminia’s slept with Alcippus Erminia’s never slept with Alcippus! Murder of wives Othello kills Desdemona for cheating on him Alcippus kills Erminia for cheating on him

8. Connections withThe Winter’s Tale Wives use death to teach a lesson Hermione uses her death to teach Leontes not to be overly-suspicious Leontes: “Both your pardons,/ That e’er I put between your holy looks/ My ill suspicion” (5.3. 148-150). Erminia uses her death to teach Alcippus a lesson about true love Forces Alcippus to realize what he did was wrong, and thereby null the marriage between himself and Erminia, then marry Galatea

9. So What? Shows the influence of William Shakespeare throughout the years Still popular during the Reformation Even great dramatists like AphraBehn needed to draw influence from other great dramatists to master their craft Later on, she would write great works, including the play The Rover and the novel Oronooko Writers today should not be embarrassed to borrow ideas and themes from works of writing/art/ect. that they love, as that’s how we learn Pablo Picasso: “Good artists borrow, great artists steal”

10. Works Cited Behn, Aphra. The Forced Marriage. The Works of AphraBehn. Ed. Janet Todd.Vol. 5. London: Pickering & Chatto, 1996. 1-82. Duffy, Maureen. Introduction. Five Plays. By AphraBehn. New York: Phaeton Press, 1990. ix-xiii. Ferguson, Frances. “Envy Rising.” ELH 69.4 (2002) 889-905. Gill, Pat. “AphraBehn: Desiring Women II.” Interpreting Ladies: Women, Wit, and Morality in the Restoration Comedy of Manners. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1994. 137-157. Green, André. The Tragic Effect: The Oedipus Complex in Tragedy, trans. Alan Sheridan. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1979. Lim, Walter S. H. “Knowledge and Belief in The Winter’s Tale.” SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900. (2001): 317-334. Malcolmson, Cristina. Rev. of Fantasies of Female Evil: The Dynamics of Gender and Power in Shakespearean Tragedy, By Cristina León Alfar. Shakespeare Quarterly, 56.1 (2005): 110-112. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth.The Norton Shakespeare. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2008. 2579-2632. ---. Othello.The Norton Shakespeare. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2008. 2119-2191. ---. Taming of the Shrew. The Norton Shakespeare. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2008. 169-228. ---. The Winter’s Tale. The Norton Shakespeare. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2008. 2892-2961. Todd, Janet, and Derek Hughes. “Tragedy and tragicomedy.” The Cambridge Companion to AphraBehn. ed. Derek Hughs and Janet Todd. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 83-97.