Hellena’s character in Aphra Behn’s The Rover could be described as outspoken, resourceful, and rebellious. This article will focus on Hellena’s rebellious nature and explore her deepest meanings. We find Hellena rebelling against her brother Pedro’s wishes to send her to a convent, against the conventional system of honor expected of 17th century women, and against the traditional roles of women in society. These three areas will be studied in depth to reveal the reasons and results of Hellena’s rebellious nature.

Hellena’s personality manifests itself almost immediately in the play when she says to Florinda: “Now hang me, if I don’t love you for that dear disobedience. I love mischief strangely …”. The Rover creates an image of a male-dominated society, and Hellena is clearly not a woman who wants to be controlled.

In the first scene, we discover that the future of Hellena and Florinda has already been determined by their father, and their brother Pedro plans to fulfill his wishes. Florinda humbly submits to her brother: “Lord, I will live to do what becomes your sister.” But the frank Hellena openly rebels at her sister’s obedience: “As he becomes his sister! May your path be as determined as he his.” In this way, Florinda is a contrast to Hellena because she is portrayed as the “ideal” servile woman, while Hellena is much more of a free spirit. Presumably one of Hellena’s main concerns as a future nun should be chastity, but she is far more concerned with expressing her sexual desires. Pedro scolds Hellena commenting that she “is not designed for the conversation of lovers”. However, it is Hellena’s conversation with Pedro that sheds light on Florinda’s desire to marry Belvile. In this way, Florinda is also a parallel to Hellena because they are both being forced, by men, to suppress their desires. Hellena’s rebellion against her brother and against the convent is clearly a stance against being controlled by men.

This brings us to our second point about Hellena’s rebellion against the conventional honor system expected of women of her time. While this is closely related to the first area we explore, it has specific qualities that need to be examined.

The ideal woman of the seventeenth century was one who ate very little, fainted easily and frequently, and blushed every time she was looked at. Her code of honor was primarily influenced by her duty to obey men and remain chaste. This code is brought out early by Hellena and is exemplified when she and Willmore meet for the first time. We found that neither of us is looking for a permanent relationship, just looking to “move on.” Once again, we see Florinda serving as a contrast for Hellena. Although Florinda has been portrayed as a virtuous maiden, this contrasts with Hellena’s outspoken sexuality.

Hellena also breaks the code of honor by relying heavily on deception, specifically, by dressing up as a man. Deception is involved throughout the play and Hellena’s disguise is a means of concealing her identity and thus freeing her from the restrictions imposed by a patriarchal society. The ideal woman of this period would certainly never break her code of honor by challenging a man’s authority, but Hellena not only breaks the code, she proves just as resourceful as the most outspoken man in the play: Willmore.

The third point refers to the traditional role of women. This point encompasses the first two that we have looked at, but it also serves to put an exclamation point in one of the main themes of the work. With Hellena’s rebellion, Behn resists the double standard applied to women, as well as the idealization of what a “proper” woman should be.

A good place to start would be to point out that Angelica Bianca presents herself as a second contrast to Hellena. This can be difficult to see at first because as a prostitute, Angelica certainly falls outside the guidelines of an ideal or suitable woman. But on closer examination, the contrast will come to light.

Angelica has promised that “nothing but gold will enchant my heart”. By stating this, you have suppressed your natural desires to promote yourself as a prostitute. Romantic love, in the traditional sense, is not a possibility for a woman whose identity is defined and devalued as a prostitute. That is why he must try to put aside the identity that is imposed on him when he begins to fall in love with Willmore. As long as she is trapped in the stigma that accompanies prostitution, she will never be able to pursue her “natural” desires. Likewise, Florinda’s natural desires are also held captive by her idealized maiden. By showing the limits of self-expression and sexuality in female identities, the “unnaturalness” of these roles is revealed, be it nun, servant or prostitute.

When Hellena breaks out of the traditional female stereotype of her time, her contrast to the other two women materializes. Rather than being jealous of finding Willmore with another woman, Hellena teaches him a lesson by matching him in wits and beating him at his own game. In this way, he is directly opposed to Angelica, who by her jealousy threatens Willmore’s life. Angelica has physical beauty, but Hellena has more wit and humor to match Willmore’s.

In conclusion, we have examined how Hellena rebels against her brother and the convent to avoid being controlled. We’ve also seen her rebellion against the conventional honor expected of the women of her time not only frees her from restraints, but ultimately wins her the title character. And finally, we have explored how her rebellion against traditional female roles sets her in contrast to other women and produces a positive result. As female characters push the boundaries of their assigned identity, we come to see that a woman’s nature is not contained in a label, be it a nun, a prostitute, or a servant. However, Behn proves that living “happily ever after” in a patriarchal society is not an easy task, and it is only Hellena’s courage to rebel that makes it possible.