Episode Details

This episode is about the 17th century novelist, playwright, and spy Aphra Behn.

In this episode we talk about:

• Behn’s careers in espionage and literature
• Her bisexuality and some of the complexities of how desire between women was portrayed in the 17th century
• Poem: VERSES design'd by Mrs. A. Behn, to be sent to a fair Lady, that desir'd she would absent her?self, to cure her Love. Left unfinish'd
• Poem: The Dream
• Poem: To the Fair Clarinda Who made love to me, Imagin'd more than woman
• Dedicatory text to Hortense Mancini, Duchesse Mazarine

Books mentioned:

• Todd, Janet. 1996. The Secret Life of Aphra Behn. Rutgers Univ Press, New Brunswick. ISBN 0-8135-2455-5
• If you’d like to read some historical fiction that includes an entirely imagined meeting between Aphra and Hortense Mancini: ”The Mazarinette and the Musketeer” by Heather Rose Jones

This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here:

• To the Fair Clorinda (Aphra Behn)

A transcript of this podcast is available here.

Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online

• Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
• Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
• RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
• Twitter: @LesbianMotif
• Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
• The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

Links to Heather Online

• Website: http://alpennia.com
• Email: Heather Rose Jones
• Twitter: @heatherosejones
• Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)