t h e rov e r ,

or,

t h e b a n i s h e d c ava l i e r s
 The Rover
or,

The Banished Cavaliers

aphra behn

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The Rover, or, The Banished Cavaliers first published in 1677

This edition first published by Renard Press Ltd in 2021

Edited text © Renard Press Ltd, 2021

Notes, footnotes and Extra Material © Renard Press Ltd, 2021

Cover design by Will Dady

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.

ISBN: 978-1-913724-06-1

987654321

All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by
any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise – without the prior permission of the publisher.
 contents

Preface 7
Prologue 9

The Rover11
Act i  13
Act i i  35
Act i i i 55
Act i v 81
Act v  113

Epilogue 139
Postscript 141

Note on the Text 143

Notes 143

Extra Material 147

 PR EFACE
f ro m

Plays Written By the Late Ingenious

Mrs Behn, Volume i

T
needs
h e f o l l o w i n g c o l l e c t i o n o f p l ay s
no other recommendation than that they were
writ by the incomparable Mrs A. Behn, a person
whose character is so universally known, and whose per-
formances have met with such a general applause, that ’tis
needless to bespeak the reader’s favour on her behalf. Her
poems, novels, translations and several other composures,
both in prose and verse, have gained her a lasting esteem
among the masters of wit and sense, but above all her theat-
rical performances have entitled her to such a distinguishing
character in that way as exceeds that of any of the poets of
this age, Sir William Davenant and Mr Dryden excepted.*
Most of ’em had the good fortune to please upon the stage,
and all of ’em loudly proclaim the fancy and excellent
abilities of our authoress. Those who had the happiness to
be personally acquainted with her were so charmed with
her wit, freedom of temper and agreeable conversation
that they in a manner adored her. And indeed, we need

7
 t h e rov e r

no greater proof of her excellency in all the endowments

both of body and mind than her acquaintance and intim-
acy with the more sensible part of mankind, and the love
she drew from men of all ranks.
In fine, her character among the wits of the age is fully
and happily expressed by Sir Charles Cotton in the following
lines:*

Some hands write some things well and elsewhere lame,

But on all themes your power is the same;
Of buskin1 and of sock you know the pace,
And tread in both with equal skill and grace;
But when you write of love, Astrea, then
Love dips his arrows where you wet your pen:
Such charming lines did never paper grace,
Soft as your sex, as smooth as beauty’s face.

1724

1 buskin: A leather knee-high boot.

8
 PROLOGUE
Written by a person of quality

Wits, like physicians, never can agree,

When of a different society;
And Rabel’s drops1 were never more cried down
By all the learned doctors of the town
Than a new play whose author is unknown;
Nor can those doctors with more malice sue
(And powerful purses) the dissenting few,
Than those with an insulting pride do rail
At all who are not of their own cabal.2
If a young poet hit your humour right, 10
You judge him then out of revenge and spite;
So amongst men there are ridiculous elves,
Who monkeys hate for being too like themselves:
So that the reason of the grand debate,
Why wit so oft is damned when good plays take,
Is that you censure as you love or hate.
Thus, like a learned conclave poets sit,
Catholic3 judges both of sense and wit,
And damn or save, as they themselves think fit.

1 Rabel’s drops: A famous brand of medicine at the time.

2 cabal: Clique.
3 Catholic: Having wide tastes.

9
 t h e rov e r

Yet those who to others’ faults are so severe20

Are not so perfect, but themselves may err.
Some write correct, indeed, but then the whole
(Bating1 their own dull stuff i’ th’ play) is stole:
As bees do suck from flowers their honeydew,
So they rob others, striving to please you.
Some write their characters genteel and fine,
But then they do so toil for every line
That what to you does easy seem, and plain,
Is the hard issue of their labouring brain.
And some th’effects of all their pains we see30
Is but to mimic good extempore.2
Others by long converse about the town
Have wit enough to write a lewd lampoon,
But their chief skill lies in a bawdy song.
In short, the only wit that’s now in fashion
Is but the gleanings of good conversation.
As for the author of this coming play,
I asked him what he thought fit I should say
In thanks for your good company today;
He called me fool, and said it was well known, 40
You came not here for our sakes, but your own.
New plays are stuffed with wits, and with debauches,
That crowd and sweat like cits3 in May Day coaches.

1 Bating: Except for.

2 extempore: A performance given without preparation.
3 cits: Citizens.

10
 t h e rov e r ,

or,

t h e b a n i s h e d c ava l i e r s*
 d r a m at i s p e r s o n a e

d o n a n to n i o , the Viceroy’s son

d o n p e d ro , a noble Spaniard, his friend
b e lv i l e , an English colonel in love with f l o r i n da
w i l l m o r e , the Rover
f r e d e r i c k (f r e d ), an English gentleman,
and friend to b e lv i l e and b l u n t
b l u n t , an English country gentleman
s t e p h a n o , servant to d o n p e d ro
p h i l l i p o , l u c e t ta ’s gallant1
s a n c h o , pimp to l u c e t ta
b i s k e y and s e b a s t i a n , two b r avo s 2 to a n g e l l i c a
o f f i c e r and s o l d i e r s
d i e g o , pa g e to d o n a n to n i o
pa g e to h e l l e n a
b oy , page to b e lv i l e
b lu n t ’ s m a n
f l o r i n da , sister to d o n p e d ro
h e l l e n a , a gay young woman designed for a nun,
and sister to f l o r i n da
va l e r i a , a kinswoman to f l o r i n da
a n g e l l i c a b i a n c a , a famous courtesan
m o r e t ta , her woman
c a l l i s , governess to f l o r i n da and h e l l e n a
l u c e t ta , a jilting wench
s e rva n t s , other m a s q u e r a d e r s , men and women.

scene
Naples, in Carnival time.

1 gallant: An admirer, a lover.

2 bravos: Thugs; adventurers.

12
 ACT I
scene i

A chamber. Enter f l o r i n da and h e l l e n a .

f l o r i n da : What an impertinent thing is a young girl bred

in a nunnery! How full of questions! Prithee1 no more,
Hellena, I have told thee more than thou understand’st
already.
h e l l e n a : The more’s my grief – I would fain2 know as
much as you, which makes me so inquisitive; nor is’t
enough to know you’re a lover, unless you tell me too
who ’tis you sigh for.
f l o r i n da : When you are a lover I’ll think you fit for a
secret of that nature.
h e l l e n a : ’Tis true, I was never a lover yet – but I begin to
have a shrewd guess what ’tis to be so, and fancy it very
pretty to sigh, and sing, and blush and wish, and dream
and wish, and long and wish to see the man; and, when
I do, look pale and tremble, just as you did when my
brother brought home the fine English colonel to see
you – what do you call him? Don Belvile.

1 Prithee: Please.
2 fain: Like to.

13
 t h e rov e r

f l o r i n da : Fie, Hellena.
hellena: That blush betrays you – I am sure ’tis so. Or is
it Don Antonio, the Viceroy’s son? Or perhaps the rich
old Don Vincentio, whom my father designs for your
husband? Why do you blush again?
f l o r i n da : With indignation! And how near soever my
father thinks I am to marrying that hated object, I shall
let him see I understand better what’s due to my beauty,
birth and fortune – and more to my soul – than to obey
those unjust commands.
h e l l e n a : Now hang me if I don’t love thee for that dear
disobedience! I love mischief strangely, as most of our
sex do who are come to love nothing else. But tell me,
dear Florinda, don’t you love that fine Anglese?1 For I
vow, next to loving him myself, ’twill please me most
that you do so, for he is so gay and so handsome.
f l o r i n da : Hellena, a maid designed for a nun ought not to
be so curious in a discourse of love.
h e l l e n a : And dost thou think that ever I’ll be a nun? Or
at least, till I’m so old, I’m fit for nothing else? Faith, no,
sister; and that which makes me long to know whether
you love Belvile is because I hope he has some mad
companion or other that will spoil my devotion; nay,
I’m resolved to provide myself this Carnival, if there be
e’er a handsome fellow of my humour above ground,
though I ask first.
f l o r i n da : Prithee, be not so wild.
h e l l e n a : Now you have provided yourself with a man, you
take no care for poor me! Prithee, tell me, what dost
thou see about me that is unfit for love – have not I
a world of youth? A humour gay? A beauty passable?
A vigour desirable? Well shaped? Clean limbed? Sweet
1 Anglese: Englishman (Italian).

14
 act i scene i

breathed? And sense enough to know how all these

ought to be employed to the best advantage? Yes, I do
and will. Therefore lay aside your hopes of my fortune
by my being a devote,1 and tell me how you came ac-
quainted with this Belvile, for I perceive you knew him
before he came to Naples.
f l o r i n da : Yes, I knew him at the Siege of Pamplona* –
he was then a colonel of French horse, who, when the
town was ransacked, nobly treated my brother and my-
self, preserving us from all insolences; and I must own,
besides great obligations I have, I know not what that
pleads kindly for him about my heart, and will suffer no
other to enter. But see – my brother.

(Enter d o n p e d ro , s t e p h a n o , with a masking habit,2 and

c a l l i s .)

p e d ro : Good morrow, sister. Pray, when saw you your lover

Don Vincentio?
f l o r i n da : I know not, sir – Callis, when was he here? For I
consider it so little, I know not when it was.
p e d ro : I have a command from my father here to tell you
you ought not to despise him – a man of so vast a for-
tune and such a passion for you! Stephano, my things.
(Puts on his masking habit.)
f l o r i n da : A passion for me! ’Tis more than e’er I saw or
he had a desire should be known – I hate Vincentio, and
I would not have a man so dear to me as my brother
follow the ill customs of our country and make a slave
of his sister. And, sir, my father’s will, I’m sure, you may
divert.

1 devote: A nun (a variant spelling of both ‘devout’ and ‘devotee’).

2 masking habit: Part of a disguise donned during Carnival.

15
 a l s o ava i l a b l e by a p h r a b e h n
from renard press

First published in 1688, Oroonoko, or,

The Royal Slave is a short, politically
charged novella by the Restoration
playwright – and spy – Aphra Behn,
and is arguably one of the founding
texts of the novel form. Purporting
to chart the life of an African prince,
Oroonoko, who is tricked into slavery
and taken to South America, the nar-
rative follows the Prince through his
trials of love, loss and rebellion.
Vying for the title of the first English
novel – and certainly the first to be read as an indictment of
the treatment of Africans – Oroonoko has all the hallmarks
of Behn’s stage works, which are widely considered to be
amongst the most important of the Restoration period.

‘All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb
of Aphra Behn, which is, most scandalously but rather
appropriately, in Westminster Abbey, for it was she who
earned them the right to speak their minds.’
Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

ISBN: 9781913724115
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 m o r e c l a s s i c t h e at r e f r o m
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