The Lucky Chance

A detailed Summary of The Lucky Chance

[...] a Devil on't the Woman damns the Poet.

-- Aphra Behn, Preface to The Lucky Chance

Aphra Behn (1640-1689) was not the first woman writer; neither was she the only

woman writer of her day. But Aphra Behn holds the singular distinction of being the

first professional woman writer in the English language. That's right, ladies -- Aphra

Behn was the first woman writer who did it for money.

It was a natural choice for this young woman, a recent spy for the crown and a widow

at the age of 26, to turn to selling herself (in a manner of speaking) in order to

survive.Many other women of the period did so; but instead of novels and plays, they

sold something much more fundamental and far more common. Single women,

whether spinsters or widows, often allowed themselves to be kept by rich men of the

commons and nobility alike. Mrs. Behn chose not to sell herself but her wits and

words, and was branded a whore for her efforts.

Not much is known of her origins. Most biographers seem to agree she was born Aphra Johnson in or around

1640, and that she acquired her education and her connections at court through a noble childhood

woman of the time whose work was created and put out not only for her personal satisfaction but for the praise

unsalvageable baseness. While she lived, men and women alike vilified her as a whore, and she was seen as a sort

from the ungrateful world, and scorn its fickle favors."

for money but for fame -- and also to fulfill what she called "my masculine part, the poet in me" -- clearly asserting

played with the image of the prostitute which was from the beginning associated with her -- "selling" herself as a

-- Aphra Behn, The Lucky Chance

Approximate Word count = 1756
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People

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