The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III

In Short

This third volume collects theatrical works by Aphra Behn, showcasing the vibrant, satirical, and often chaotic world of late seventeenth-century English drama. Across these plays, young lovers battle against forced marriages, greedy guardians, and jealous husbands. Characters scheme in elaborate disguises, brawl in bagnios, stage fake weddings, and even pull off grand deceptions involving mock Turks and fictional lunar empires. Rich in theatrical energy and physical comedy, the text exposes the mercenary nature of Restoration courtship while celebrating the sheer resourcefulness of women. The volume endures because it offers a direct, unvarnished window into the era’s fierce debates surrounding forced matrimony, female agency, and the survival of public theater.

The Story

The dramatic narratives within this collection revolve around the collision of youthful desire and mercenary authority. In the opening play, The Town-Fopp, the primary plot focuses on the tormented love between Celinda and Bellmour. Though they are pledged to one another, their path is violently derailed by family greed. Celinda’s father and mother wish to marry her off to Sir Timothy Tawdrey, a foolish, cowardly coxcomb. Meanwhile, Bellmour’s guardian, Lord Plotwell, threatens to disinherit him entirely unless he marries Plotwell’s niece, Diana.

Pressed into obedience, Bellmour reluctantly marries Diana, but the wedding night turns into instant disaster. Driven mad by misery and guilt, Bellmour repulses Diana in the nuptial chamber and plunges into a life of reckless debauchery, frequenting bagnios with Sir Timothy and various courtesans. His brother Charles and his loyal steward attempt to intervene, resulting in a duel where Charles is wounded. Unaware of the true situation, Celinda disguised as a boy and her protective brother Friendlove stalk the newly married couple. In a series of chaotic night brawls and mistaken identities, the scorned Diana actually falls in love with the disguised Celinda, demanding that this "youth" challenge Bellmour to a duel.

Simultaneously, secondary plots unfold where the absurd Sir Timothy, manipulated by parasitic rogues named Sham and Sharp, attempts to ruin Bellmour’s sister Phillis through a fraudulent marriage using a fake parson. Through clever maneuvering, cross-dressing revelations, and intense confrontation, the traps of forced marriage are dismantled, exposing the rogues and untangling the desperate lovers.

In subsequent plays, the comedy shifts toward outrageous farce and high-stakes trickery. In one scenario, an old, absurdly jealous husband named Francisco finds himself outwitted when a younger suitor named Carlos orchestrates an elaborate scheme. Pretending to be an Ottoman Turkish noble, Carlos stages a mock takeover, commanding Francisco to yield his wife, Julia, to the "seraglio." Francisco is terrified into compliance through the threat of strangulation by bowstrings, while Julia uses her wit to navigate her husband’s monstrous jealousy and the suitor's aggressive charms.

Elsewhere, the comedy turns to high-stakes gambling and deception, where the foolish, elderly Sir Cautious Fulbank literally gambles away a night with his young wife to a youthful gallant, Gayman, in a dice game. In another satirical masterpiece, The Emperor of the Moon, a foolish, gullible old doctor obsessed with visionary absurdities is duped into believing his daughter and niece are sought in marriage by celestial royalty. Through elaborate pageantry, antick dances, and slapstick rivalry between traditional commedia dell'arte figures like Harlequin and Scaramouch, the younger generation thoroughly hoodwinks the older generation to secure their own choices in love.

How It Unfolds

The mandate enforced Lord Plotwell threatens to cut off his nephew Bellmour’s inheritance unless he abandons his beloved Celinda to marry Diana. Heartbroken and trapped by economic ruin, Bellmour acquiesces to his guardian's matrimonial scheme.

Nighttime chaos and disguise Following the disastrous wedding, Celinda disguises herself as a young man to shadow her unfaithful lover. After a street brawl with the foolish Sir Timothy Tawdrey, the abandoned Diana encounters the disguised Celinda and immediately makes passionate advances toward the "boy."

Plots of gulls and rogues Sir Timothy collaborates with his parasitic companions, Sham and Sharp, to seduce Bellmour’s sister Phillis. To overcome her insistence on marriage, they plot to hire a rogue in canonical robes to perform a mock ceremony.

The Ottoman deception In a dramatic turn of farce, young Carlos and his allies dress as grand Turks to intimidate the jealous old Francisco. They force the trembling husband to resign his wife Julia to a fake seraglio under threat of execution.

A wife lost at dice In a dark comic gamble, the aged Sir Cautious Fulbank plays dice against the young lover Gayman, wagering a night in his wife's bed chambers. Gayman throws double sixes, winning the night while Sir Cautious laments his foolishness.

The lunar masquerade To trick a doctor obsessed with astronomy, young suitors construct a grand illusion featuring fictitious lunar princes. With the aid of Scaramouch and Harlequin, they stage elaborate theatrical spectacles to win the daughters' hands.

The People

• Bellmour: A young gentleman torn between his deep love for Celinda and his financial dependence on his tyrannical uncle. Trapped into an unwanted marriage, he plunges into destructive debauchery out of pure despair before attempting to right his wrongs.
• Celinda: Bellmour’s steadfast lover who refuses to accept her forced match with a foolish knight. She exhibits fierce independence, dressing as a male traveler to pursue the truth, ultimately inciting both confusion and passion in those she encounters.
• Sir Timothy Tawdrey: A cowardly, arrogant coxcomb who fancies himself a master of women and violence. Though he struts and bullies his parasitic companions, he is easily beaten, disarmed, and tricked into exposing his own folly.
• Diana: Lord Plotwell’s niece, whose pride and genuine desire for love are shattered on her wedding night. Maddened by Bellmour’s sudden rejection, she aggressively seeks revenge, unwittingly falling for a disguised Celinda.
• Francisco: A foolish, intensely jealous older husband whose terror of being cuckolded drives him to absurd paranoia. His overbearing behavior makes him the prime target for an elaborate deception that leaves him utterly humiliated.
• Julia: Francisco's young and clever wife, who must navigate her husband's oppressive suspicions while maintaining her dignity amidst the aggressive advances of younger, persistent suitors.

In Its Own Voice

When Sir Timothy Tawdrey attempts to bully his parasitic companions, Sham exposes the knight’s bravado as pure posture:

"You talkt big, and huft where-e’er you came, like an errant Bully; and so long we reverenc’d you--but now we find you have need of our Courage, we’ll stand on our own Reputations."

In a quiet moment during an elaborate farce, a song captures the central obsession that drives every character in the volume:

"Love wakes the dull from sluggish Ease, / And learns a Clown the Art to please: / Humbles the Vain, kindles the Cold, / Makes Misers free, and Cowards bold."

Defending the vital social and political function of the stage against its contemporary critics, Behn asserts in her prefatory material:

"It being undeniable then, that Plays and publick Diversions were thought by the Greatest and Wisest of States, one of the most essential Parts of good Government, and in which so many great Persons were interested..."

What It's Really About

Beneath the manic pace of disguises, duels, and bedroom trickery, the plays in this collection launch a pointed critique against the mercenary nature of 17th-century marriage. Behn relentlessly interrogates the tyranny of guardians and parents who treat young women—and men—as commodities to be bartered for estates, titles, or cash. The plays reveal how forced marriages destroy moral character, driving once-honorable men like Bellmour into destructive debauchery and making fools of jealous old men like Sir Cautious and Francisco.

The collection also explores the performance of gender and social authority. Through cross-dressing heroines like Celinda, Behn demonstrates how female agency expands when liberated from the rigid boundaries of female attire. Furthermore, the volume reflects on the power of theater itself. Whether through characters staging fake Ottoman courts to manipulate a tyrant or performing mock lunar spectacles to trick a mad doctor, Behn argues that illusion and theatrical play are essential tools for surviving a dishonest world.

Why Read It Today

Reading Aphra Behn today offers an exhilarating, unfiltered encounter with one of English literature's earliest professional female playwrights. The text carries a sharp, fearless vitality that feels surprisingly modern in its biting cynicism about money and courtship. Readers who enjoy classic comedy will delight in Behn’s impeccable comic timing, her razor-sharp dialogue, and her mastery of physical slapstick, ranging from dynamic commedia dell'arte routines to wild street brawls.

It must be noted that the plays present specific reading challenges inherent to Restoration literature. Readers will navigate rhymed verse passages, archaic slang, dense topical references, and period stage directions. The plots rely heavily on theatrical conventions of the era—such as instant infatuations, improbable disguises, and casual tavern rowdiness—that require a willingness to embrace high farce. Furthermore, the texts reflect the blunt, often cynical attitudes toward sex, money, and power characteristic of the late 17th century.

Yet, for those willing to engage with its period quirks, this collection remains enormously rewarding. Behn’s distinctive combination of warmth, precise social satire, and theatrical daring ensures these plays continue to leap off the page with vibrant energy.

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