HOW WRETCHED ARE OUR SEX”: MAPPING GENDER IN APHRA BEHN'S “THE NUN”

Resumo

ABSTRACT: This paper begins by studying the confinement to which the protagonist is subjected, both in literal terms and in a more psychological sense. Secondly, it tackles the gender issues that are palpable throughout the work, both in the way the two sexes are presented in writing as well as in their interactions. Thirdly, it analyses Aphra Behn's defence of the female sex in The Nun as well as the gender equality that she evidently advocates. Ultimately, the recipient learns that the central character was only able to escape from her confinement by transgressing the social and familial rules in place, as can be seen in her attempt to free herself from the tyrannical rule of her father, and later in her sudden entry and subsequent fleeting departure from the convent. Despite being included in the title of the text, the convent has an ironic, even parodic function: the intention is to illustrate the reality of the situation for the majority of women in the author's day, as well as hinting at the social change which she so longs for.