Female Virginity and Sexuality in Aphra Behns The Disappointment

In her poem The Disappointment, Aphra Behn shows the complicated nature of a womans
first sexual experience. While it is clear that Lsander o!erpowers "loris with his phsical
stren#ths and s$ills of seduction, "loris has mixed feelin#s a%out ieldin#. &er sense of social
honour of stain# a !ir#in clashes with her lo!e for Lsander and her desire for him and for the
promise of pleasure.
Lsander is portraed as forceful throu#h the !iolent diction in the phrases &is darin# hand that
altar sei'ed (Behn, line )*+ and himself he threw (,,+. &is insistence is also seducti!e,
persuadin# "loris to recei!e him % -$issin#. her mouth, her nec$, her hair (Behn /)+, as if to
o!erwhelm her % #i!in# her attention on all sides. This shows Lsanders power o!er "loris,
su##estin# that she reall has no choice, e!en if she did not want to ield.
"loriss feelin#s contradict themsel!es as she tries to deal with her desire despite her reluctance.
This is shown in the phrase 0ermits his force, et #entl stro!e (Behn 1)+ where the caesura
splits the two conflictin# actions, emphasisin# "loriss confusion. &er reluctance to ha!e sex
with Lsander stems from her anxiet a%out the social expectation of her chastit. This can %e
seen % her insistence I cannot, must not #i!e 2 retire (Behn 34+. The shift %etween cannot
and must not shows that she is aware that her resistance is %ased on what is expected of her,
%ut perhaps does not reflect her true feelin#s. The pause in the phrase su##ests a hesitation in
her refusal, showin# that it is hard for her to resist. "loris does lo!e Lsander, which can %e seen
% the phrase this life, whose chiefest part 5 I #a!e ou with the con6uest of m heart (Behn
378/9+. The diction of con6uest su##ests that Lsander also too$ her heart throu#h force, %ut
the fact remains that she does feel for him emotionall. "loris also feels phsical desire for
Lsander, as seen in the phrase :ach touch her new desire alarms (Behn /*+. The desire is
new and alarms her, su##estin# that these feelin#s were un$nown to her until this moment.
;a%e the surprise of this desire is what stops her protests, %ut "loris seems to want Lsander to
ta$e her, despite the conse6uences she $nows she will ha!e to face after losin# her !ir#init.
"loris loses herself in the attentions of Lsander and full ields to him. &er su%mission is
shown % the phrase half dead and %reathless la (Behn **+. "loris had the opportunit to cr
out, %ut she lies still instead. &owe!er, the ima#e that this phrase con!es is one of a person
defeated, such as in %attle, su##estin# that her su%mission was not reall her choice. "loris is
descri%ed as read to taste a thousand <os (Behn ,1+, su##estin# that she is loo$in# forward to
the pleasure of ha!in# sex with Lsander. :!en thou#h she is disappointed, "loris is now
awa$ened to her sexualit and her desire.