Aphra Behn and Female Sexuality Dessi M. Gravely College

Aphra Behn, recognized as being England’s first woman writer to earn money from her publications, is a woman who pushed boundaries with her writing in numerous ways. In addition to being a spy, playwright, and author of prose, Behn scandalized her contemporaries with her sometimes explicit and always unapologetic portrayal of female sexuality in her poetry. In a time when women were supposed to remain quiet about their sexual desires, Behn asserted that women, equal to men, were sexual beings. Behn palpably portrays women who are capable of lust and desire. One of many of Behn’s poems to explore the theme of female sexuality is “The Willing Mistress.” In this poem, Behn ignores the notion of denying female sexuality as she playfully and poetically explores female desire that is equal to male sexual desire.

The poem tells the thoughts of a woman who is reflecting on a sexual interaction she had with a man. As the title of the poem, “The Willing Mistress,” suggests, the woman of the poem is a willing participant in this sexual interaction, but readers may argue that the speaker’s emotions display female desire more than the female acceptance that might be implied. By describing the woman as “willing,” Behn is portraying female...