Aphra Behn was an influential English playwright and novelist of the Restoration era. Known primarily for her comedy plays and groundbreaking novel, Oroonoko, she became one of England's first professional female writers, challenging the literary standards of her time.
If you enjoy reading books by Aphra Behn then you might also like the following authors:
Susanna Centlivre wrote witty, lively plays that humorously explored the social expectations and freedoms of women. Like Aphra Behn, she challenged the limitations that women faced, often through clever dialogue and sharp satire.
Her comedy The Busy Body humorously highlights clever heroines who cleverly outwit the men around them, making a strong case against restrictive social standards.
Delarivier Manley created scandalous and satirical prose filled with sparkling wit and bold social commentary, much like Aphra Behn.
In her book The New Atalantis, Manley uses fiction to expose and critique the private lives and political intrigues of London society, particularly highlighting the corruptions among aristocrats and politicians.
Eliza Haywood wrote vivid fiction that portrayed women's lives, desires, and struggles truthfully and engagingly, similar to Aphra Behn's approach.
Her novel Love in Excess explores romance, passion, and societal constraints, showing her characters' emotional complexities while subtly criticizing the limitations women face in love and society.
John Dryden produced elegant poetry and sophisticated plays that often reflected the tensions of his time, frequently satirizing social hypocrisy.
Readers of Aphra Behn might enjoy Dryden's play, Marriage à la Mode, a humorous yet insightful work that examines the complexities, contradictions, and absurdity within love, marriage, and society.
William Wycherley's sharp, satirical comedies offer biting critiques of manners, morality, and societal expectations. Like Aphra Behn, Wycherley exposes society's hidden weaknesses and hypocrisies through witty conversations and memorable characters.
His comedy The Country Wife cleverly mocks marital conventions and social pretenses, revealing the underlying absurdities of London high society.
George Etherege is known for his witty Restoration comedies, filled with sharp humor and clever commentary on society. Etherege focuses on upper-class manners, fashionable life, romantic intrigues, and the superficiality of human behavior.
His play, The Man of Mode, captures the spirit of Restoration-era London, exploring themes of love, satire, and social hypocrisy with entertaining dialogue and vivid characters.
William Congreve wrote witty and satirical Restoration plays, offering comedy alongside biting critiques of social trends and manners. His elegant dialogues reveal the absurdities of fashionable society, romantic deception, and human vanity.
His play, The Way of the World, highlights his cleverness and insightfulness, exploring themes of marriage, greed, and hypocrisy through engaging plots and smart humor.
Daniel Defoe is best known as a pioneer of the English novel. His fiction combines vivid realism, adventure, and social commentary, often portraying ordinary people caught in unusual circumstances.
His novel, Moll Flanders, follows the adventurous and morally ambiguous life of its strong-willed heroine. In an entertaining and realistic manner, Defoe tackles issues like morality, survival, and social class.
Margaret Cavendish was an innovative writer in 17th-century England. Ahead of her time, she explored themes such as feminism, philosophy, and the natural world, often using imaginative styles and unconventional narratives.
Her work, The Blazing World, is a unique blend of science fiction, fantasy, and philosophical exploration, presenting readers with fascinating new possibilities and challenging traditional conventions.
Katherine Philips was a prominent 17th-century poet known for her refined and thoughtful verse. Her poetry explores friendship, love, and society through eloquent yet intimate language.
In particular, her poem collection, Poems by the Incomparable Mrs. K.P., celebrates personal relationships and emotional intimacy while reflecting on the complexity of human connections. Philips offers readers emotional depth paired with graceful poetic style.
Anne Finch wrote thoughtful poetry exploring nature, emotional introspection, and women's position in society. Her verse is reflective and elegant, addressing isolation, creativity, and personal struggles with sharp insight.
Readers who appreciate Aphra Behn's thoughtful portrayal of women's experiences and societal constraints might enjoy Finch's poetry collection, Miscellany Poems, on Several Occasions, which thoughtfully depicts her inner world and ideas.
Mary Pix was an adventurous playwright known for her lively style and sharp observations on love, marriage, and social manners. Like Aphra Behn, she focused on themes of women's autonomy, relationships, and the customs of her contemporary society.
Pix's play The Innocent Mistress offers humor, bold characters, and insightful views about women's perspectives and their struggles within societal limitations.
Catharine Trotter Cockburn wrote plays that examined morality, human nature, and philosophical ideas, often through strong female characters. Her approach is intellectual yet engaging, approaching complex ideas in accessible ways.
If you enjoy Aphra Behn's use of rich storytelling and thoughtful exploration of ethics, you'll appreciate Cockburn's The Fatal Friendship, a tragedy that looks closely at friendship, honor, and emotional dilemmas.
George Farquhar created energetic, witty comedies that unwrap human folly with humor and charm. Farquhar's works stand out for addressing real-life concerns through lively storytelling, clever dialogue, and believable characters.
Fans of Aphra Behn's humorous insights into society will appreciate Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem, which blends romance and satire to depict society's quirks and pretensions.
Thomas Shadwell was a playwright who specialized in social satire, highlighting human foolishness through sharp, comic scenes. Like Behn, he viewed society critically, exploring issues of class, pretension, and morality.
Shadwell's play The Virtuoso humorously portrays a pseudo-intellectual who obsessively pursues trivial knowledge, cleverly exposing pretension and vanity.