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Journal Article
The Untold Love Story of Aphra Behn's The History of the Nun
2025
Overview
Aphra Behn’s The History of the Nun (1688) is a complex narrative that challenges gender norms and moral conventions, while providing multifaceted illustrations of how restrictions of freedom engender rebellion. Erstwhile a critically neglected piece, this short novel has recently attracted renovated attention on account of its sophisticated narrative perspective, ambivalent moral, and general exploration of unconventional themes, including sexual nonconformity. Taking its cue from this critical landscape, this article explores the text’s queer dimensions, focusing on a crucial yet often overlooked scene depicting sapphic eroticism. Unpacking the internal dynamics and external implications of this passage, the essay argues for the pivotal role of the untold romance between Isabella and Katteriena within the narrative. It suggests that this peripheral storyline offers valuable insights into Behn's larger thematic concerns, particularly, the root causes of personal dissatisfaction and the transgression of social norms. It proposes that the suggestive yet not fully realized depiction of sapphic love presents a potential solution for the dichotomy between heterosexual marriage and celibacy, both depicted as unsatisfactory. Further, it posits that the scene in question sheds light on and is illuminated by its connection to the novel’s dedicatee: Hortense Mancini, who was not only a notorious vow-breaker but also a famous pursuer of sapphic pleasures, creating an effect akin to that of a roman á clef . Finally, the article contends that, in offering a captivating subplot left unresolved, the sapphic episode both tantalizes and frustrates readers, increasing the demands for their involvement in the creation of meaning. This emphasis on the power of imagination and the endless possibilities of fiction can be seen as metafictional gestures revealing a degree of literary sophistication not always associated with amatory fiction.
Publisher
Aphra Behn Society
Subject
