Anti-Imperial Discourse in Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko

Abstract

Aphra Behn’sOroonokoexposesthe tormented state of the central character Oroonoko and author’s implicit alignment to the deplorable slaves. Oroonoko, though he is first a prince of a small African country, undergoes the turbulence of slavery when he is caught by trick in a slave trading ship and brought and sold in Surinam, a English based colony. The racial consciousness in Oroonoko emerges with his re- union with sold fiancée Imoinda, whose conception leadshim to be rebellious for ultimate liberty. Oroonoko kills his wife to save her and unborn child from the evil of slavery and his ultimate attempt to commit suicide, aftermath of his towering racial consciousness, it self turns to be the resistance against the imperialism founded on racial discrimination.