ABSTRACT
The adventures of Oroonoko tell a story about property. In the first half of Aphra Behn's novel, which takes place for the most part in Africa, Oroonoko struggles against his royal grandfather for possession of Imoinda, the woman he loves; in the second half, the enslaved prince fights English colonists in Surinam for possession of himself as well as his wife. Thomas Southerne play not only embraces progressive ideology, with its emphasis on private property, but parallels Lockean rhetoric that proclaims equality but constitutively depends upon limiting the category of individual and thus potential owner. Behn's Oroonoko, however, problematizes human commodification, while Southerne's seeks complex ways to justify it. Oroonoko as well as Imoinda falls victim to English exploitation of the 'African' gift economy. While Oroonoko sells slaves to Europeans, elitism prevents him from understanding Africans indiscriminately as commodities and prevents the practice of slavery from threatening the local hierarchy.
