Anita Pachecos Royalism and honor in Aphra Behns Oroonoko - Book Report/Review Example

Anita Pacheco’s Royalism and honor in Aphra Behn’s OroonokoThe critical review of Anita Pacheco’s ‘Royalism and honor in Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko’ clearly identifies the central thesis – “that the ideology of [Oroonoko] is royalist and also that its effort at ‘ideological closure’ is undermined by its continuity with the historical period and by its reliance on an unstable discourse of honor” -- made by Pacheco in her essay; however, fails to examine or evaluate the contents of the text in full vis-à-vis her thesis to understand or guide the prospective readers as to how Pacheco fares in establishing her thesis.

Focusing too much on Pacheco’s argument that Behn’s novella is ‘Eurocentric’ and ‘class-biased’, the review fails to provide a balanced view of Pacheco’s commentary, and leaves the reader clueless about Pacheco’s objective in writing the essay– exposing the political agenda underlying Behn’s novella, and its failure in achieving an ideological closure.The review begins with a clearly stated objective of exploring the main points of Pacheco’s essay and analysing its strengths and weaknesses; however, proceeds to describe Pacheco’s arguments and illustrations that suggest Behn’s hero as ‘Eurocentric’ and ‘royalist.

’ A significant portion of the review is spent on summarising Pacheco’s viewpoints, and presents little attempt to analyse or interpret Pacheco’s observation in the backdrop of her thesis or the primary text. At many places like when describing Pacheco’s comments on ‘Europeanizing the African’ and Behn’s approach to slavery, the reviewer simply repeats Pacheco’s words as in a simple narration of the article, without quoting the author, or interpreting the implications of Pacheco’s observations.

The review is totally oblivious of Pacheco’s commentary on Oroonoko’s treatment of honour and its instability within the upper-class/royalist discourse due to the religious implications, which according to her eventually leads to the undermining of the novel’s royalist ideology. While the review provides crucial insights into the perspective of Pacheco’s analysis, it does not endeavour to assess or evaluate the strength or weakness of her claims or offer a comprehensive framework for the readers to make the assessment themselves.

Though the reviewer make a note of other works that substantiate Pacheco’s thesis such as that by Guffey, the commentary fails to provide a comparative perspective with other works for the reader to assess the merit and significance of Pacheco’s study. The critical review also lacks the strength of reviewer’s outlook of Pacheco’s commentary. For the most part, the reviewer has limited the review to a mere description of Pacheco’s views, without adopting a clear stance on the work or providing a cohesive overview of the review.

Also, it offers little evidence of the depth and extent of research – both primary and secondary – and the quality and extent of corroborations that Pacheco offers in establishing her thesis. While the reviewer makes it a point to support descriptions in the first part of the review, in the latter part, where the review considers the discourse of honour, the description lacks authenticity and coherence, and is not substantiated with textual claims. The observation on Pacheco’s suggestion about Oroonoko’s class- bias is conveyed with little authenticity.

Also the reviewer’s concluding comment on Pacheco’s bias in linking honour and the upper class turns to be a slack opinion, failing to identify the weaknesses in the textual and other elements used by Pacheco in establishing the link and aiding her conclusion. The reviewer does not suggest the article for any class of readers, which could have added to the strength of the review given the socio-historical significance of Pacheco’s study. However, any prospective reader of Behn’s article reading the critical review can only gain a very general perspective of Pacheco’s review.

The critical review fails to provide a comprehensive and cohesive view of Pacheco’s essay, or to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of her work in establishing her thesis. Reference1. Pacheco, Anita. (1994) ‘Royalism and Honor in Aphra Behn's 'Oroonoko.' Studies in English Literature, Volume: 34(3) 1500-1900