Slavery wasn’t outlawed in the British Empire until 1833. By the time Behn wrote Oroonoko, King Charles II had already given Suriname to the Dutch in 1667, which Behn considered a mistake, given its gold mines, sugar cane, and other exotic resources. The English colony in Suriname was founded in 1650 and soon began importing slaves, especially the Akan people from the Gold Coast of Africa (modern-day Ghana) to supplement the low number of indentured servants coming from England to work the sugar plantations. Additionally, England was a rising empire at this point. After the Glorious Revolution, the Tory party would later try to reclaim the throne on James II’s behalf through a number of uprisings that ultimately failed.

Some scholars also believe Behn may have been Catholic. Oroonoko Summary 1 - Oroonoko Summary Oroonoko’s tale is told from the perspective of a female - Studocu Summary oroonoko summary tale is told from the perspective of female narrator, possibly aphra behn herself. Behn was a Tory Royalist, a supporter of James II who did not support the Whig party’s idea of a constitutional monarchy, or one in which Parliament gained increasing power over the monarch, who previously had supreme authority over the country.

Parliament consisted of two main parties, Whig and Tory, and Whig Parliamentarians disliked the fact that James was Catholic, were suspicious of his close ties with the French government, and wanted Protestant monarchs. Oroonoko was published the same year as the Glorious Revolution, a bloodless revolution in England in which Parliament replaced King James II and installed James’s daughter, Mary, and her husband, William, as joint-monarchs.

Oroonoko sparknotes chapter 1