NationMaster - Encyclopedia: The Rover (play)

The Rover or The Banish'd Cavaliers is a play in two parts written by the English author Aphra Behn. It was a very popular Restoration comedy. For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... A sketch of Aphra Behn by George Scharf from a portrait believed to be lost. ... Refinement meets burlesque in Restoration comedy. ...

Behn had famously worked as a spy for Charles II against the Dutch. However, Charles was slow to pay her for her services and slow to meet his promises, if he ever paid her at all, and Behn sought to make money first with her poetry, and then with plays and novels. The Rover appeared on the stage in 1677, and it was popular enough that a second part appeared in 1681. The play appeared for a long run, enabling Behn to make a fair income from it (the author received the proceeds from the box office every third night the play ran). SPY may refer to: SPY (spiders), ticker symbol for Standard & Poors Depository Receipts SPY (magazine), a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps SPY (Ivory Coast), airport code for San PÃ©dro, CÃ´te dIvoire SPY (Ship Planning Yard), a U.S. Navy acronym SPY, short for MOWAG SPY, a... Charles II (29 May 1630 â€“ 6 February 1685) was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. ... 1677 (MDCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Events March 4 - Charles II of England grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania. ...

Character list

Plot

Behn's work should always be read with an eye toward her contemporary political world. She was a Royalist, and her works frequently treat Puritans and democracy roughly. The subtitle's "Banish'd Cavaliers" is a reference to the world of exile that the cavalier forces experienced during the interregnum. Behn based her play on Thomas Killigrew's Thomaso, or The Wanderer (1664). It features multiple plots, dealing with the amorous adventures of a group of Englishmen in Naples at Carnival time. The "rover" of the play's title is Willmore, a rake and naval captain, who falls in love with a young woman named Hellena, who has set out to experience love before her brother sends her to a convent. Complications arise when Angellica Bianca, a famous courtesan who falls in love with Willmore, swears revenge on him for his betrayal. In another plot, Hellena's sister Florinda attempts to marry her true love, Colonel Belvile, rather than the man her brother has selected. The third major plot of the play deals with the provincial Blunt, who becomes convinced that a girl has fallen in love with him but is humiliated when she turns out to be a prostitute and a thief. For the record label, see Puritan Records. ... Prince Rupert of the Rhine Cavaliers was the name used by Parliamentarians for the Royalist supporters of King Charles I during the English Civil War (1642â€“1651). ... For other uses, see Interregnum (disambiguation). ... Thomas Killigrew (1612 - March 19, 1683), was an English dramatist. ... Events March 12 - New Jersey becomes a colony of England. ... For other uses see, Naples (disambiguation) and Napoli (disambiguation) Location of the city of Naples (red dot) within Italy. ... This article describes the festival season. ... The Tavern Scene from A Rakes Progress by William Hogarth. ... This article is about an abbey as a religious building. ... A courtesan in mid-16th century usage was a high-class prostitute or mistress, especially one associated with rich, powerful, or upper-class men who provided luxuries and status in exchange for her services. ...

Contemporary feminist scholars often focus on the play's many instances of women vulnerable to rape, and the tragic results of Angellica's being jilted by Willmore. They see in these plot elements a protest against the powerlessness of women in Behn's time. Feminism is a social theory and political movement primarily informed and motivated by the experience of women. ...

Willmore (who may have been a parallel to Charles II) proved to be an extremely popular character, and four years later Behn wrote a sequel to the play. King Charles II was himself a fan of The Rover, and received a private showing of the play.

Scene breakdown and summary

Act I

Scene 1

The play begins with the sisters Florinda and Hellena. Hellena, who has been assigned to become a nun, questions Florinda about who she loves. Florinda admits she loves an English colonel: Belvile, but her father is determined that she marry Don Vincentio, a rich old man (who never actually appears in the play). To make matters even more complicated Florinda’s brother, Don Pedro, wants Florinda to marry the viceroy of Naples’s son, Don Antonio. Florinda briefly describes how she met Belvile.

Don Pedro enters with Stephano (his servant) and Callis (Florinda and Hellena’s governess). Pedro encourages Florinda to follow their father’s wishes and marry Don Vincentio. Florinda refuses. This pleases Pedro, who says that he has a means for Florinda to escape that marriage... by marrying Don Antonio instead the very next day.

After Pedro leaves, Florinda and Hellena convince Callis to let them go to Carnival on the condition that Callis accompany them. They go off to get ready.

Scene 2

Belvile, Blunt, and Frederick walk along a street. Belvile is melancholic and Frederick and Blunt attempt to find out what’s wrong. Frederick guesses rightly that it’s Florinda and Belvile explains that Pedro has denied him access to his love because he favors Antonio.

Willmore (the title character) enters and is heartily greeted. The Englishmen prepare for a night of love and festivities. Women dressed like courtesans enter. Willmore approaches one of them, while Belvile snips at him with references to venereal diseases. More revelers enter as the men continue to browse the different wenches.

Florinda, Hellena, and Valeria enter dressed like Gypsies. Callis, Stephano, Lucetta, Phillippo, and Sancho also enter in masks. Willmore suggests that the men get their fortunes told, mistaking the women for actual Gypsies. He goes to Hellena and rapidly the two begin to flirt. Hellena reveals she is destined to be a nun to which Willmore replies “There’s no sinner like a young saint.” Hellena agrees to sleep with Willmore, who swears to love only her. Meanwhile Lucetta begins to seduce Blunt. Florinda reads Belvile’s palm and begins to set up a meeting with him when Pedro enters. She hastily gives him a letter and all the women leave except Lucetta. Pedro’s party merely passes by.

Belvile shows the letter to the others. It gives Belvile instructions to come to Florinda in her garden at ten that night. During the reading of the letter Blunt sneaks off with Lucetta. Willmore asks about what kind of man Blunt is. Belvile’s description is less than wonderful and he suddenly realizes that Blunt has all their money with him. Frederick assures him that all will be well and then informs his friends of a new courtesan in Naples: Angellica Bianca. The three go off to see her.

Act II

Scene 1

Willmore, Belvile, and Frederick are on their way to see Angellica when they come across Blunt. Blunt happily (and stupidly) describes how Lucetta loves him and how she’s waiting for him to join her later that night. The Englishmen have a laugh at him and retrieve their money, but leave Blunt “to be cozened” (cheated). Blunt objects to the accusation that Lucetta’s a whore. Their argument is interrupted when two men come out and hang up a picture of Angellica. They are astounded by her beauty but discover her cost is one thousand pounds a month. Unable to pay, they leave.

Don Pedro enters and sees the picture and the price. He has the money and runs off to fetch it.

Angellica enters with her woman, Moretta. Angellica laments that no one has taken her up because of the high price, but when she learns of Don Pedro and Don Antonio, both of whom are rich, she decides to pursue them. She and Moretta vanish back inside.

Pedro and Stephano enter from one side, and Antonio and Diego (his page) enter from the other. Both parties wear masks. Antonio is taken aback by the beauty of Angellica’s picture and refuses to believe it until he hears Pedro’s praise of her. Antonio wonders out loud if he could get away with sleeping with Angellica and still marry Florinda. At the mention of Florinda, Pedro recognizes Antonio.

A song plays from the balcony above. Angellica enters and bows to Antonio, who removes his mask and confirms his identity. Antonio tries to pay for Angellica, but Pedro steps up and declares that he was there first. They fight. Willmore and Blunt enter and break them up. Pedro challenges Antonio to a duel the next day. Antonio accepts. Pedro leaves.

Willmore in the mean time is gazing at a small picture of Angellica. He decides to take it. Antonio tells him to put it back. Willmore refuses saying that Antonio has the money to pay for the real thing. Angellica and Moretta enter just in time to see another fight break out. It escalates into all the Spaniards against Willmore and Blunt. Angellica manages to separate the two men briefly, but they begin to fight again moments later. Belvile and Frederick enter and join their English comrades in beating off the Spaniards. Willmore is wounded, but not badly. Angellica asks Willmore to speak with her inside. Willmore goes, despite the objections of Belvile and Frederick.

Scene 2

Inside Angellica’s chamber Willmore seduces Angellica who falls in love with him. Moretta tries to stop it, but Angellica agrees to sleep with Willmore for free.

Act III

Scene 1

Florinda, Hellena, and Valeria (no longer dressed as Gypsies) wonder at what has upset Don Pedro. Hellena says she is not in love, but she cannot stop thinking about Willmore. They see Belvile, Blunt, and Frederick coming in the distance, but the fact that Willmore is not with them leads the women to hide and eavesdrop to discover what’s happening.

Belvile, Blunt, and Frederick come in to retrieve Willmore from Angellica, because he has been inside with her for two hours. Willmore comes out and promptly begins to brag about how great she was and that he still has all his money. Sancho enters and informs Blunt that Lucetta is waiting for him. Blunt and Sancho leave.

Hellena, who has seen and heard everything that happened between Willmore and his buddies, comes up and pretends as if nothing has transpired. As Willmore begins to flirt with her again, Angelica and Moretta enter (in masks) and see Willmore’s double crossing. Hellena finally reveals her face to Willmore who praises her beauty, but she covers it back up again. This is the last straw for Angellica. She orders one of her bravos to find out who Hellena is and storms out.

Florinda and Valeria test Belvile’s loyalty by trying to seduce him while he doesn’t know who they are. He stands firm.

Hellena agrees to show her face to Willmore again only if he tells her what he did in Angellica’s house. He denies everything. Hellena then attacks him, throwing his own words about Angellica back in his face. She makes Willmore promise to never see Angellica again. Willmore swears he won’t even think of her.

The women exit, but Florinda leaves Belvile with a jewel (most likely a locket of some sort) so that he “may repent the opportunity you have lost by your modesty.” Belvile recognizes Florinda’s picture.

Scene 2

Blunt and Lucetta come into her house. Lucetta continues to seduce Blunt and runs off to get undressed. Sancho comes in to take Blunt to the bedroom.

Scene 3

Blunt enters into the bedroom and undresses. Lucetta tells him to turn out the light. When the room is dark, the bed vanishes (with Lucetta) using a trapdoor system. Blunt stumbles around and then falls through a trapdoor himself. Lucetta, Sancho, and Phillippo enter and joyously rob Blunt blind.

Scene 4

Scene 5

Florinda waits in her garden for Belvile wearing undress (a nightgown or underwear). Willmore enters drunk, looking for Belvile and Frederick. When he sees Florinda he mistakes her for a wench and tries to get her to sleep with him. When she resists he attempts to rape her. It is interrupted by Belvile and Frederick entering. Florinda runs. Willmore and Belvile almost fight, but Frederick intervenes. The noise however, brings Pedro and his servants to the garden. A fight breaks out and the English are driven off.

Scene 6

Belvile enters in a rage as Willmore tries to explain that he didn’t know who Florinda was and mistook her for a whore. Frederick is the only one holding Belvile back. Willmore gets Belvile to at least wait a day to cool off before resolving to fight him. They arrive outside Angellica’s house. Willmore nonchalantly says “I promised the kind baggage to lie with her tonight.”

Antonio enters with his page, and inquires as to whether the page paid Angellica like he was supposed to. Belvile and Frederick leave to find Florinda. Willmore seeing that Antonio intends to sleep with Angellica starts a fight. During the chaos Antonio falls. Thinking he’s dead. Willmore drunkenly stumbles off. Belvile runs in fearing it is Willmore who has been hurt. Soldiers enter and arrest Belvile, believing him to be the culprit. Antonio gets up, only wounded and orders Belvile taken to his house.

Act IV

Scene 1

Don Antonio comes to Belvile and doesn’t believe his exclamations of innocence. However, Antonio offers Belvile an option other than imprisonment. Since Antonio is wounded, he cannot duel Pedro. Belvile is to dress up as Antonio and go in his stead. Belvile agrees, believing that the fight must be over Florinda.

Scene 2

Florinda and Stephano enter. Florinda worries that Belvile did not arrive under her window as planned. She fears that the duel about to happen is between Belvile and Pedro. Stephano leaves to avoid Pedro.

Don Pedro enters, masked. He reveals that he will be fighting Antonio, relieving some of Florinda’s fears. Belvile enters, disguised as Antonio. Pedro accuses Belvile (Antonio) of having “the advantage of me in Angellica.” Belvile offers to fight. Florinda runs in to stop them. Belvile is confused as to why Florinda would defend his rival but they push her away and fight. Florinda stops them again just as Belvile disarms Pedro. She begs him “by her you love” to spare Pedro. Belvile lays his sword at Florinda’s feet and swears his love to her. The action redeems him in Pedro’s eyes and, removing his mask, Don Pedro gives his sister to the man he believes to be Antonio. It is decided that they shall be married at once. Florinda starts to object but Belvile lifts his mask to show her who he is.

It is at this moment that Willmore and Frederick enter. Willmore sees Belvile and embraces him. The surprise makes Belvile drop his mask. Pedro seizes Florinda and refuses to go through with the wedding, since it was Antonio’s fight, not Belvile’s. He drags Florinda away.

Angellica and Moretta enter with Sebastian. Sebastian runs after Willmore to bring him back. Angellica is furious that Willmore loves Hellena. Willmore and Sebastian enter. Angellica accuses Willmore of having another woman. Willmore, as usual, attempts to charm her back.

Hellena enters disguised as a man. She decides to interfere. She approaches Angellica pretending to be a messenger from herself. She tells a story about a young girl who fell in love and was left standing at the alter because her love came to Angellica. Then she reveals the man to be Willmore. Angellica is moved by the story, Willmore is only excited and impatient to find out who the woman is. Suddenly, Willmore recognizes Hellena and figures out what’s going on. He turns to Angellica and starts describing Hellena as a Gypsy, ugly, a money, etc. He tells Hellena to go back to her mistress and tell her “till she be handsome enough to be loved, or I dull enough to be religious, there will be small hopes of me.” Angellica is outraged and sends Willmore away. Willmore exits with an aside in which he says his plan is to go back to Hellena and try to win her back.

Scene 3

Florinda and Valeria enter with different masks. They have momentarily escaped Pedro. Then Don Pedro, Belvile, and Willmore enter. Pedro and Belvile seem to be having a serious conversation. Florinda and Valeria walk past them. Willmore follows Florinda thinking she is a wench (again).

Frederick comes in and relates Blunt’s misadventures to Belvile and Pedro. They all three go off to find him.

Florinda enters still being followed by Willmore. Then Hellena comes across and sees Willmore following an unknown woman (Florinda). She sends a page to find out where they go.

Scene 4

Florinda ducks into a door to avoid Willmore. It turns out to be Belvile’s house. The page Hellena sent goes off to relay the information.

Scene 5

Blunt is staying in Belvile’s house. Florinda comes in to the room. She sees Blunt and asks him for help. Blunt then attempts to rape her based on his new contempt for women (“be revenged on one whore for the sins of another”). Frederick comes in. He also decides that Florinda must be a wench and joins Blunt. It is not till Florinda gives them a diamond ring that they decide that she must be a lady of some worth and choose not to rape her. Frederick locks Florinda in a room (or perhaps a closet).

Act V

Scene 1 (only scene in Act V)

Belvile, Willmore, Frederick, and Pedro break into Blunt’s room and have a laugh at him. Blunt tells them that just a moment before there was a wench in his chamber and shows them the ring Florinda gave him. Belvile recognizes the ring as the one he gave Florinda when they exchanged vows. He tells Blunt to keep the happening secret. The other men, unaware that it is Florinda, decide to let her out and have their way with her, if she be a wench. They draw swords to see who has the longest. Don Pedro wins.

Florinda runs in, still masked and pursued by Pedro. She is saved by the entrance of Valeria, who gets Pedro to leave by telling him that Callis knows where Florinda is hiding. Once he is gone Florinda is unmasked for everyone to see. Valeria tells Belvile and Florinda to hurry and get married quickly, before Pedro returns. Belvile sends a boy to fetch a priest. Frederick and Blunt realize who they almost raped and apologize, returning the ring. The boy returns and Belvile, Florinda, Valeria, Blunt, and Frederick exit. Willmore stays behind to guard against Pedro’s return.

The boy comes in and tells Willmore there is a woman for him. Willmore sends the boy to fetch her. Enter Angellica with a pistol pointed at Willmore. She rages at him while holding the gun to his breast. Willmore offers to pay her. She will have none of it. As she readies to kill him, Don Antonio enters with his arm in a sling. He takes the gun from Angellica. Then he recognizes Willmore as the man who took Angellica’s picture. He offers to shoot Willmore. Pedro comes in. Angellica decides to let Willmore live. She leaves.

Don Pedro demands to know why Don Antonio missed the duel. Antonio simply states what happened and leaves in a huff. Pedro decides to give Florinda to Belvile in revenge. Willmore informs him that the marriage has already occurred. Belvile comes out briefly and discovers that Pedro now approves. They go off to tell Florinda.

Hellena enters, still in a boy’s clothes and goes to Willmore. After an argument Willmore decides to finally get married to Hellena.

Don Pedro, Belvile, Florinda, Frederick, and Valeria all enter. They learn of Willmore and Hellena’s engagement and Pedro ultimately approves, tired of fearing for his sister's honor (virginity). Blunt enters in a Spanish habit, looking ridiculous. Music plays and masquers from Carnival come in dancing. The play ends with vows of love passing between Hellena and Willmore.

Behn's source

Contemporary scholarship has shown that Behn based The Rover on Thomas Killigrew's comedy Thomaso, or The Wanderer, a two-part, ten-act closet drama first printed in 1663.^[1] Thomas Killigrew (1612 - March 19, 1683), was an English dramatist. ... A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or, sometimes, out loud in a small group. ...

Selected quotes

Note

External links

Categories: Restoration comedy | Aphra Behn plays | 1677 plays | 1681 plays Refinement meets burlesque in Restoration comedy. ... The comedy of manners satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters, such as the miles gloriosus in ancient times, the fop and the rake during the Restoration, or an old person pretending to be young. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Marriage a la Mode (1672) is a comic play by John Dryden, first performed in London in 1673. ... William Wycherley in 1675. ... Frontispiece to George Ethereges The Man of Mode (1676). ... The Plain Dealer is a Restoration comedy by William Wycherley, first performed on 11 December 1676. ... Colley Cibber himself, the author of Loves Last Shift, in the role of Sir Novelty Fashion. ... John Vanbrugh (1664â€“1726), author of The Relapse. ... Sir John Vanbrugh in Godfrey Knellers Kit-cat portrait, considered one of Knellers finest portraits. ... Oxford Playhouse production of The Way of the World; 13 to 17 April, 2004 The Way of the World is a play written by British playwright William Congreve. ... The Recruiting Officer is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two recruiting officers, Plume and Brazen, as they return to their home town of Shrewsbury. ... This page may meet Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ...

Contents

Character list GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Plot

Scene breakdown and summary

Act I

Scene 1

Scene 2

Act II

Scene 1

Scene 2

Act III

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Scene 6

Act IV

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Act V

Scene 1 (only scene in Act V)

Behn's source

Selected quotes

Note

External links

Character list