Who
Her
Aphra Behn was the first English-woman to make her living by writing. She was a playwright, a novelist and a poet in the difficult, sexy, political world of post-Restoration London.
She was English, but married to a Dutch man who left her a widow at the age of 25 or so.
She spent some time in the Netherlands passing information to the government of Charles II, but she was never paid for her work as a spy and she returned to London.
She did not re-marry, preferring to make her own way in the world. Today we would probably call her bisexual, though the term was not in use at the time. Her writing is, however, sufficiently sapphic for the Georgian and Victorian critics to decide to ignore her, having first declared her immoral because her writing is erotically charged and sexually ambiguous.
A contemporary called her “the punk poetesse”, punk meaning “whore”, but whether this was because she made money from her art or because he considered her to be sexually loose is not clear.
Me
I am obviously not a 17th Century playwright, poet and spy, and if I am a lesbian icon then no-one’s thought to tell me about it. However, I admire Aphra Behn’s unflinching realism and her matter of fact ability to make her living in a male world. Also, we look surprisingly alike.
Other than that - “my life is very boring, I’m an office clerk“. Well, I’m neither a clerk nor a clark, and although I find my work interesting, I lack the skills to convey that in writing.
So what we are left with are the jottings of a magpie mind. Here, if you care for it, is an overview of what I’ve done and said during my first year here at WordPress.
Enjoy. Or not. Whichever.
February 12, 2007 at 3:12 pm
I am one who is enjoying reading your jottings. Thanks for interesting reading.
I find the NLP meta-model quite interesting and will try to employ it and keep it close at hand.
Cheers.
February 12, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Why thank you kindly. The meta model is very cool, and I enjoyed thinking about it again to write about it here. (I also enjoyed finding silly cat quotes to go with it!)
Thanks for taking time to drop by and say nice things on my blog!
Aphra.
February 13, 2007 at 6:15 am
Yes, I like your ways and I see 1loneranger is also here. My blog work is every day more cumbersome but I promise to read your posts and contribute as much as possible.
Congratulations for an excellent blog.
March 15, 2007 at 2:57 am
Great Blog. Wonderful thoughts and interesting presentation. Your views are as intriguing as your picture. Keep marching forever……
March 15, 2007 at 7:30 am
Thank you kindly, both of you.
AB.
March 20, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Thanks for stopping by the church and adding your comment. I do appreciate it.
Aphra was really somethin’, huh? When I saw your name it gave me a fair jilt.
March 21, 2007 at 12:02 am
“A fair jilt” is one of the nicer things I’ve been called.
I enjoyed your post. It struck me as witty and deft, a propos and amusing. But of course, Thou Shalt Not Poke Fun at the Prejudices of Others.
Aphra.
March 21, 2007 at 12:57 am
I will try to limit my poking and jilting, but it will be tough.
And I’m not nearly as witty as you.
March 21, 2007 at 1:07 am
No! No! Don’t stop! This world needs as much poking and jilting as any of us can manage!
AB
March 24, 2007 at 2:13 pm
I really like your blog too, and this page in particular was an eye-opener, I had to say that I had no idea who Aphra Behn was - I thought it was just a random name that was either your real name or just one that you had made up!
Awesome to know all the above.
By the way, thanks for the link!
March 24, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Thanks Cal. I must admit, I do hope the original Aphra Behn doesn’t mind me campaigning on behalf of the NHS like this. It’d feel very rude to steal her name and then do something she disagreed with. Still, she had her own arguments with governments who didn’t honour their promises or pay her her dues, so I hope she wouldn’t mind.
AB.
May 26, 2007 at 5:23 am
just found your site and love love love it. it took me a couple of seconds, but this: ”my life is very boring, I’m an office clerk“
is from echo beach right? martha and the muffins?
i really love you now!
May 28, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Martha and the Muffins it was. And now I’m blushing. You’re not a lesbian by any chance, and if you are does that make me an icon? I live in hope, you see.
Thanks for stopping by.
Aphra.
May 29, 2007 at 3:41 am
well i am indeed.
and you don’t have to be an icon for me to love you, so the pressure’s off.
May 29, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Woo hoo! It’s just that 17thC Aphra is a lesbian icon, and I feel that I’ve been letting the side down somewhat.
Aphra.
May 29, 2007 at 9:48 pm
well, first of all i didn’t think anyone had heard of her besides me. secondly, you’re british, so OF COURSE she’d be an icon to you, you literate lesbian you. i wonder how you look without clauses. okay. i’ll stop.
May 30, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Without clauses? Insubordinate, of course!
I’m not a lesbian though, I’m an article of furniture: http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/04/05/swallow-the-dictionary/
Aphra.
May 31, 2007 at 1:13 pm
If I were a SOFFA it would be time to change the cushions.
How about just plain old “sexual” - or is that too revealing?
Your blog is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I like to read it while sitting on a big old comfy chair - article of furniture otherwise unspecified.
best, leila
July 2, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Hi AB, I hope you don’t mind me linking to your blog, I’ve missed your commentaries on life from the site that is stuck in time…
W
July 2, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Oh, hello there! I’m delighted. Draw up a chair, and welcome.
Aphra.
July 21, 2007 at 3:33 am
Oo, Aphra is a heroine of mine! So glad I found your blog, it’s wonderful!
S
July 22, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Thank you Simonne. I do feel a slight fraud having purloined her name, I do hope that she wouldn’t object.
I’ve had an interesting time wandering through your blog too.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Aphra.
July 23, 2007 at 3:13 pm
I’m quite sure she would be thrilled!
S
January 29, 2008 at 7:54 pm
It is good that you have uncovered a forgotten female writer!! History is so biased, isn’t it? — by men (or women when the time comes) deciding what is right to cover or what not. I wa snot biased in this later stament, I try not to be.
I will come back.