Aphra Behn (1640-1649)
Very little is known about Aphra Behn’s early life. *Her first known job was as a spy for King Charles II in 1666.* Three years later, she left this position for the world of theatre where she debuted her play, *The Forced Marriage,* at the Duke’s Theatre Company in 1670. She wrote her most successful play *The Rover, in 1677*. The scandalous rape scene in The Rover birthed the sexually risqué trend for her other plays to follow. Aphra received much criticism for the continued sexualization of her works. One contemporary, *Alexander Pope wrote of her plays, _“The stage how loosely does Astraea tread, who fairly puts all characters to bed.”* Aphra also specialized in comedies, many focusing on the idea of “forced marriage.” Living in a male-dominated society, she riskily portrayed her female characters as strong, independent women who were capable of making their own decisions. She was shockingly arrested in 1682, for a heinous prologue in her play *Like Father, Like Son.* She was certainly released from jail shortly after. Her later years were spent writing books of poetry, *Poems upon Several Occasions* and *Love Letters between a Nobleman and His Sister* (1684). Her empowering messages were expressed in the twenty plays she formulated over the course of her lifetime.
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