Aphra Behn's genre-blending tale, Oroonoko, blends travel narrative with fictional biography to tell the story of Prince Oroonoko, “the royal slave.” Although Behn writes of Oroonoko's honor as unique among men, his admiration for him seems to stem directly from how closely he mirrors the prime model of an English Christian of noble descent. Indeed, Behn measures and praises Oroonoko's masculinity only in terms of these parallels. Other males, such as Oroonoko's grandfather, are also emasculated due to their inability to conform to these standards. is the object of praise as embodying the normative values ​​of beauty and modesty of the time argues that Behn's juxtaposition of native qualities and period values ​​constructs the gender of his characters such that function only as dark-skinned representatives of white virtue. Additionally, this article will analyze the texts of Oroonoko and Addison and The Spectator to demonstrate how some writers of the time treated the "other" through subjective cultural standards. Say no to plagiarism Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Behn presents to us. to Oroonoko as an African warrior prince possessing unusually Caucasian physical traits. He writes: “His nose was raised and Roman, rather than African and flat. His mouth was the most beautiful shape you could see; away from those large, shapely lips which are so natural to the rest of the Negroes” (8). Under the tutelage of a Frenchman, he acquired knowledge of language, science and morality. Behn partially attributes Oroonoko's “humanity” to this tutelage. Not only does he speak English impressively, but he is also able to carry on a conversation in English with the same wit and charm as a native speaker. From his supposed personal interactions with Oroonoko, Behn states, "He had nothing barbaric in his nature, but in all points he addressed himself as if his education had been in a European court" (7). From these details it becomes apparent that Behn's delight in Oroonoko stems from her European trappings. In many ways, Oroonoko becomes the “noble anti-savage” (although as yet no solid definition of “noble savage” has emerged). Unlike his nobility that comes from minimal contact with civilization, he is instead praised for his ability to learn from the white men he encounters. Much more attention is paid to its English mimicry skills than to its African qualities. Behn states that her skin color is “perfect ebony,” unlike the common “rust black” of her nation, but she still considers it an obstacle to the fulfillment of her beauty (8). Oroonoko's sexual behavior is also different from that. of his fellow countrymen because he follows a code of monogamy. He promises his new wife, Imoinda, that "contrary to the customs of his country, he made her swear that she would be the only woman he would possess during his lifetime" (10). This is yet another case of Behn projecting Christian values ​​onto Oroonoko to distinguish him from his race. Therefore, few of its admirable traits lie in its separation from English culture. While Behn creates less shining examples of Oroonoko's compatriots, it seems that Oroonoko has surpassed her race and that therein lies her value. Oroonoko's grandfather, the king of Cormantien, is portrayed as a man of excess. His palace is full of women whose sole function is to please him. Despite his countless women, the king desires Imoinda. In an act of duplicity, she orders her servants to bring her the royal veil (symbolwho must come to the king's bed or be punished by death) while her nephew is hunting. Yet the king exemplifies the emasculating qualities of sin, as his repeated lasciviousness has robbed him of his sexual virility. Once Oroonoko and Imoinda finally reunite, Imoinda states "...that she remained an immaculate maiden until that night, and that what she did with her grandfather had deprived him of nothing of his virginal honor..." (19). Because Oroonoko is pure to Imoinda, "he ravished in a moment what his old grandfather had attempted for so many months" (19). Despite his libertine practices, Behn condemns the polyamorous practices of the Oroonoko people and instead praises marriage and monogamy. Although many of Oroonoko's qualities reflect Behn's religious values, he does not choose to describe Oroonoko as Christian. This choice appears to arise from Behn's desire to condemn those who identify with Christianity but do not follow its teachings. For example, Oroonoko's first encounter with Christianity occurs after his capture, when a sea captain deceives him into slavery by swearing to the Christian god that he will release him once the ship reaches shore (27). In reaction to this deception, Oroonoko says, "Farewell, Lord, it is worth suffering to gain such true knowledge of both you and your gods by whom you swear" (29). Behn's subsequent attempts to involve him in the discussion of the fall of the Trinity are ignored. Oroonoko's resentment towards the Christian religion is portrayed as unfortunate, but justified. Even so, its values ​​so closely mirror religion that its official rejection of it becomes negligible. Behn also measures femininity by the standards of European Christianity. Oroonoko's bride, Imoinda, is repeatedly described as having “modesty and extraordinary beauty” (34). She is the constant object of white desire and is often said to elicit more sighs than many "white beauties" (34). Much of the text is dedicated to praising a beauty so great that it becomes a burden. The preservation of the virtue of her body becomes the focal point of Imoinda's destiny. Her purity is constantly threatened and/or questioned, and her agency diminishes as circumstances give her less and less control over her body. When she is captured by the king, he forces her to "swear to be a servant" (11). Once she and Oroonoko are reunited, she is forced to swear that the king had not deprived him of his virginity. After discovering that Imoinda and Oroonoko have copulated, the king sells Imoinda into slavery, because after being possessed by a family member, touching her would be "the greatest crime in nature among them", she was now "a polluted thing, of all unfit for his embrace” (21). action depends entirely on the state of Imoinda's body, for previously the king found no fault in usurping her from her husband as long as she remained pure Imoinda in bondage before Oroonoko found her. However, from Trefry's account we can infer that she spent most of her time alienating admirers (including Trefry) and maintaining the purity of her body Trefry tells of her attempts that "she mi disarms with that modesty and that cry, so tender and so touching that I withdraw, and thank my stars he has overcome me" (33). Finally, Imoinda's heartbreaking death is enacted by her husband as part of his plan to take revenge of the white men who betrayed him. He fears that if he dies in his attempts, Imoinda would be left behind and "ravaged by every brute, exposed first to their evil lusts, and then to a shameful death" (53). As a “heroic wife,” she wholeheartedly obeys the.