2. Does Behn's narrator ever escape from being the narrator? Is the narrative voice always that of the narrator, or does the narrator manage to present the thoughts, words, and consciousness of the characters of her story? Is the narrative voice a limitation on the success of these stories as works of fiction?
3. Behn's narrator makes sharp and obvious judgments about her characters and their actions. Do the judgments preclude independent judgments by her readers, or are they meant to guide readers in their understanding of the significance of the stories? Is Behn's narrator reliable? Are her judgments conventional, or do they challenge readers to take a new look at their values.
4. Oroonoko seems to tell two separate stories--the love of Oroonoko for Imoinda, and the slave revolt led by Caesar. (The hero conveniently has a separate name for each story.) Are these simply two stories about the same hero, or are they significantly connected? If they are connected, what are the African story and the Surinam story really about?
5. Oroonoko interests us as a very early story about a slave revolt. What does Behn tell us about how slaves were treated in British colonies in the seventeenth century? What are the differences between the treatment of African slaves and the treatment of Indians and between the treatment of slaves by the British and their treatment by the Dutch? Is Behn against the institution of slavery in itself, or does she merely think that slaves should be more humanely treated? Is slavery connected to other themes of concern to Behn?
6. Oroonoko also provides an early image of the "noble savage." What is the nature of Oroonoko's nobility, and where does it come from, if he is a "savage"? What is the relationship of his nobility of character to his physical beauty and prowess and to his success as a warrior? Does he, as a noble savage, contrast to decadent Europeans, and, if so, in what ways? What are the sources and symptoms of European decadence? What are the implications of race in Behn's novel?
7. A central question that excites critics-both feminist and, rather differently, postcolonial-is the relationship between Behn's narrator, her hero, and her heroine. Does the situation of Oroonoko stand for the situation of European women? Is the slave-owner's power over slaves parallel to the author's power over characters? Is Imoinda a double for the narrator or her rival for the love of Oroonoko? Does the connection between the condition of women and the treatment of slaves strengthen or distort the reader's sense of either issue?
8. The Fair Jilt, like Oroonoko, appears to have two separate stories, connected by the character of Miranda--the story of Father (or Prince) Henrick, and the story of Tarquin. Again, we need to think about the relationship of these stories to one another. In this case they have the same heroine but different heroes. How can these heroes be compared to one another, especially in terms of Behn's announced topic for the story--"the strong effects of love in some unguarded and ungovernable hearts" (30)?
9. Does Miranda have a consistent character throughout the story? Does the narrator's attitude towards her change? Do our attitudes? (At what point in the story do we decide that she is naughty rather than nice?) Do we understand or sympathize with the motives that lead to her possibly bad behavior? Are we relieved or unhappy that she comes off rather well in the end?
10. Perhaps neither Tarquin nor Oroonoko is a guy we would want to hang around with. Behn (or her narrator) sees both of them as heroic and admirable, but both of them commit acts of extreme violence. (Would you like to be married to Oroonoko, given the final consequences?) If these two characters are heroes, what is Behn's idea of the heroic? How do heroic characters contrast to ordinary figures? Should heroic characters be evaluated by the same standards of judgment as the rest of us?
11. Both stories are set in foreign parts rather than England, though admittedly Holland is less exotic than Surinam. What is exotic or foreign about either of these stories, and how does foreignness contribute to the significance of the story? How is Behn's development of theme enhanced by treating familiar topics in a strange setting?
12. The historical nature of both stories is under debate. While most critics agree that Behn's treatment of Surinam accords with the historical record in detail, there is no independent evidence that such a character as Oroonoko existed, and both he and his African story seem to reflect a European sensibility. There seems to be some evidence that the execution of a Prince Tarquino was in fact bungled during the 1660s, when Behn was in Holland. What difference does it make whether these stories are solidly rooted in reality or merely imaginary?
13. Both stories are love stories; both are about characters who are married. What attitudes towards sexuality and marriage do the stories seem to imply? What is the relationship between love and sexuality, and between both and marriage? Is there a connection (in Oroonoko) between the love-sex-marriage cluster and the institution of slavery? (Is marriage, for example, a way of marking or protecting another person as one's property? Is killing one's wife comparable to killing one's slave?)
14. Aphra Behn is celebrated as one of the very earliest women authors--a pioneer who made it possible for women to earn money as authors. She was the first significant woman dramatist, and her stories helped to develop and popularize fiction as a literary form particularly appropriate to women as both authors and readers. Is this merely interesting historical information, or does it have real relevance to the stories and the way we read them? In what senses can we think of these as works written by a women, as about issues of gender or of particular concern to women?