Firstly, I would like to allot a moment of silence for you to process the horror that is the title to this blog. * * Okay, that seems sufficient. Boswell's London Journal was an absolutely infuriating piece of writing. I don't mean this in the sense of style or writing in general, but I hate Boswell as a character. In the beginning, Boswell states that he shall omit any behavior that seems unbecoming; is he sure? As the story progresses, Boswell does one skeevy thing after the other and doesn't seem to be bothered by his actions at all. While this would seem honest and raw as someone is admitting their faults, it is made quite clear that Boswell doesn't think of these as faults. He essentially thinks that he can do no wrong. If Boswell were around today, he would probably be one of those people that looks at a rape accusation and says "boys will be boys". In my opinion, Boswell needed a strong slap across the face. He was a terrible person from start to finish and refused to take responsibility for his actions. Go die, Boswell. Oh wait, you already did.
Between Oroonoko and The Fair Jilt , I'm entirely puzzled by Aphra Behn as an author. In an entirely Swiftian manner, I simply cannot decipher if her writing is meant to be a commentary on unsatisfactory happenings or if she is actually racist and sexist. If you've read my previous blog on Behn, I further explained this situation in relation to The Fair Jilt and the different lenses it can be viewed through. Where Oroonoko is concerned, she could either be explaining the issue of the noble savage concept or genuinely have a type of savior complex by inserting herself into the narrative and humanizing a brutal story. I would be very interested to read different analyses of her works to see if there is an answer hiding in all of this.
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