Oroonoko
Oroonoko is a short work of prose fiction by Aphra Behn, first published in 1688.
The narrative follows Oroonoko, an African prince who is betrayed into slavery and transported to the English colony of Suriname. Reunited there with his beloved Imoinda and renamed Caesar, he leads a revolt after promises of freedom repeatedly fail.
The work interweaves love, honor, and betrayal with colonial violence and slavery. Its narrator presents the account as a “true history,” while shaping Oroonoko as a tragic, idealized hero.
"I DO not pretend, in giving you the history of this Royal Slave, to entertain my reader with adventures of a feigned hero, whose life and fortunes fancy may manage at the poet's pleasure..."
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Public domain (US)·No sign-up·DRM-free·Real text, not scans
Copyright note. Oroonoko by Aphra Behn is believed to be in the public domain in the United States only. It may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you are not in the United States, please check your local laws to ensure this eBook is in the public domain in your country before downloading Oroonoko in PDF or EPUB.
- Pages
- 72
- Reading time
- 2 hours 26 minutes
- Pace
- Intermediate
- First published
- 1688
- Language
- English
- Downloads
- 2,656
338 years later, still timely
Why Read Oroonoko in 2026?
Written in 1688, this brief, unsettling narrative faces love, power, and slavery without flinching. It is troubling and indispensable—a reckoning with how stories justify violence or resist it, and how dignity survives when the script is stacked against it.
Today's connection
Behn blends romance pose and brutal record to expose colonial logics. Reading it now builds ethical literacy for debates on empire, freedom, and who controls the narrative.
Freedom on trial
Law, power, and humanity.
Who tells it?
Narrative is a weapon.
Early novel, sharp edge
Form that still provokes.
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About the author
Aphra Behn
Early professional woman writer; sharp comedy, espionage, and colonial critique.
