The editor supplies explanatoryannotations and textual notes."Historical Backgrounds" is an especially rich collection ofseventeenth-and eighteenth-century documents about colonizers and slaves in the new world. Topically arranged-"Montaigne on America,""The Settling of Surinam," "Observers of Slavery, 1654-1712," "AfterOroonoko: Noble Africans in Europe," and "Opinions on Slavery"-these selections create a revealing context for Behn's unusual story.
Illustrations and maps are also included.
"Criticism" begins with an overview of responses to Behn and Oroonoko,from learned and popular writers of her time to Sir Walter Scott andVirginia Woolf, among others. Current critical interpretations are by William C. Spengemann, Jane Spencer, Robert L. Chibka, Laura Brown,Charlotte Sussman, and Mary Beth Rose.A Chronology of Behn's life and a Selected Bibliography are included.