RT Journal Article
T1 Aphra Behn’s Sentimental History: The Case Study of Agnes de Castro, or the Force of Generous Love (1688)
A1 Villegas López, Sonia
AB After the decline in theatregoing which followed the Popish Plot in 1678,Aphra Behn adhered to the general tendency among many authors of hertime and turned to novel writing. Agnes de Castro is her own rendering of atragic story with a historical base, also defined as a “sentimental tragedy”by Montague Summers in his edition of Behn’s works. The novella dramatizesthe personal and political conflicts that took place at the Portuguese Courtof King Afonso IV when his son, Don Pedro, falls in love with the Spanishgentlewoman Inês de Castro, his wife Constantia’s lady-in-waiting. Textuallyspeaking Behn follows probably the original by S.B. de Brillac (1688), andher text becomes the closest source of inspiration for Catharine Trotter’shistorical tragedy of the same title. In the light of Jacqueline Pearson andRos Ballaster’s critical approaches, and reading this early piece of fiction inthe context of other short narratives by Behn, I will contend that, in spite ofthe romancical content of the novella, the author is primarily interested inthe practical and realistic potential of the story. In fact, the great merit of hernarrative is to reconcile her gender approach to writing and her politicalallegiances. Further, Behn’s Agnes de Castro can be defined as a “sentimentalhistory” in so far as her female characters substitute political instrumentalityfor personal agency or the lack of it. Finally, Behn’s text differs basicallyfrom that of her closest follower, Trotter, in that it concentrates on the‘historical’ scope of the story to speak about contemporary history andpolitics, whereas Trotter enforces primarily a moral reading of femalebehaviour, that is not emphasised by Behn.
PB Sociedad Hispano-Portuguesa de Estudios Renacentistas
SN 1135-7789
YR 2004
FD 2004-12
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/14298
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/14298
LA eng
NO Villegas López, S.: "Aphra Behn’s Sentimental History: The Case Study of Agnes de Castro, or the Force of Generous Love (1688)". SEDERI: yearbook of the Spanish and Portuguese Society for English Renaissance Studies,   Nº. 14, 2004, págs. 239-248
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 1 jun 2026