Restoration Research

The Era
https://www.enotes.com/topics/rover 
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/stuart-england/the-english-civil-war/

In the restoration era of the 1600's plays were staged and performed very differently compared with today. The theatre's would be candle lit and would sit many royals and wealthy individuals who would come to see and experience; for the first time, female actors. As mentioned previously in a Shakespearean era blog, females characters used to be played by male actors. However, in 1662, King Charles, concerned over unnatural behaviours such as homosexuality, made it law that women must play female roles. The first female actor being Margaret Hughes.

With females now finally being allowed to perform and act on stage, the performance began to attract a more rowdy audience that were lusting after these women on stage for it was something these men had never experienced. New audiences and new actors meant that playwrights could become more creative and create female characters that would entice more audience members into the theatres. This meant making the female characters lusty and sexually appealing. They would often have a free nipple and be showing a lot of skin which was unheard of in previous era's. With an uprising of female talent on stage and around the theatre, the first of many female playwrights sprung into action.

The Rover is written by Aphra Behn, the first female playwright. This play has been written from the eyes of a women who's new creative freedom has inspired, from what I have read, a rich stew of strong willed and well appreciated attitude and spark in which she has turned the ideology that the female characters have to be raunchy to attract larger audiences and made the male characters as such which has provided Willmore with his sexual desires and lust. I believe that what Behn has done is laid a strong bridge over rough sea's and forged a new path of sexualisation over the oppressive path that men have been dominating for far to long.

'But that secured my heart and all the flames it feels are but so many lusts'

I have used this line from the script to evidence my statements because it shows how Willmore is trying to dominate this courtesan by smothering her with al his lustful words so he can fulfil his hormonal release and feel even more like a man. This to me looks like Behn's way of retaliating. By showing the audience a new type of male character who acts like a twat and wants to shag everything and then have a strong female character who is standing up for herself and using dominating and powerful language herself such as;

'I thought , I shou'd have seen you at my feet imploring it'

where Angelica telling a man to bow to her beauty and pay lots of money too her. That's evidence of a female character who is out smarting and standing up for herself in theatre. It's evidence of how more and more female actors become relevant and inspired by writers such as Behn as the way she writes empowers and realises the potential that woman have on stage for comedy.

Another historical event at the time was the civil war between Kings Charles' Cavaliers and Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarians; also known as Round Heads. At the time of the scene, Cromwell had been chosen to be Lord Protector of the newly formed Puritan parliament, one of which hated just about everything including theatre. This new rule forced the Cavaliers; like Willmore, to flee the country and travel to Naples to party free from the strict puritan rule back home. The play was written after Cromwell 's rule ended where people regained their freedom of fun and expression and celebration. I believe Behn is celebrating her freedom of expression within our scene by having the characters be raunchy and extravagant which would not have been allowed during Cromwell's rule.

' Death, how she throws her fire about my soul!'

It's expressive dialog like this that makes me think Behn almost wants Cromwell to be turning in his grave. It's like a big 'fuck you' to everything he stood for which must show how important the civil war and the revolution that followed were to expressive, artistic people of the time.

To conclude my research, I have found a lot of Behn's motivations for writing the scene and how my character is part of Behn's anger of not being able to express. Knowing this information now will allow me to bring to rehearsals, truths and motives of Willmore's mental and physical characteristics which will make my character a more convincing and impactful one on stage, hopefully portraying too the audience how Aphra Behn and many other humans of that period were feeling during both the repercussions of the civil war and women's freedom to perform on stage.

Aphra Behn (https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=aphra+behn&FORM=HDRSC2)