Thread by @MikeStuchbery_

It's Aphra Behn's birthday. Here's the tale of a total boss of Restoration England, and one sadly forgotten by many. She deserves better. THREAD /1

Aphra Behn would have a career that defies many of the conventions of her era. She would have to hold her own against misogyny, religious bigotry and turbulent political upheavals.

She didn't even have the background of wealth that many of her contemporaries did. /2

Aphra was born around 1640, somewhere in Kent. She was born to to a family of what would be described as 'middling means'.

She grew up during the turbulence of the English Civil War & as a young woman, it's probable she went to Suriname, South America, before returning home. /3

It's worth noting that while travelling great distances, especially by sail, was hardly uncommon at the time, it did expose her to places, people & ideas unthinkable to others.

As an intelligent young woman, Aphra soaked up the experiences, that would inform her later works. /4

In the 1660s, with Charles II restored to the throne, Aphra became part of the royal court.

To do this, she would have had to display no small amount of wit, intelligence and the ability to 'read the room', along with good looks.

It was a challenging gig, in many ways. /5

During her time at the court, Aphra's intelligence, political nouse, and ability to charm - along with her ability to speak Dutch from her time in Suriname - led to her being tapped as a secret agent. Her codename was 'Astrea' and she was sent to Antwerp. /6

It has been suggested that Behn was a 'bad' spy - she was soon broke, having to sell many of her possessions to keep up in the social circles she was trying to infiltrate. However, if she's a secret agent of the Crown, we're unlikely to have all the facts, just quietly. /7

Upon her return to England, Aphra needed to support herself, so she turned to writing, drawing on her connections at court to get her plays noticed. She began to write comedies poking fun at social mores - 'The Rover' was the most successful. /8

Aphra's works drew her into the circles of London playwrights, poets and rakes. She gave as good as she got, ready with a barb to deflate those taking themselves too seriously.

She was a good friend of the 2nd Earl of Rochester, one of history's great libertines. /9

Despite a number of successes and being well-known in her age, the life of a playwright wasn't exactly a money-spinner, and Aphra had to keep writing, branching out into novels to keep the wolf from the door. She did experience health problems due to poverty. /10

One of her works at this time was Oroonoko, a remarkably progressive tragedy about a slave revolt that some have described as an early abolitionist work that obviously drew on her time in Suriname. It's still in print and has been adapted for the stage too. /11

It's also been posited that Aphra was continuing working as a spy throughout the 1670s and 1680s. There are substantial gaps in her history that seem to take her away from London. Perhaps she was a more effective asset to the Crown than many think? /12

Towards the end of her life Aphra also worked as a translator. Until the end, she was continuing a number of intellectual pursuits - not only to keep her from penury, but due to her sheer love of knowledge. /13

She wasn't always popular with those in power - she had some very pro-Catholic sentiments - but she was respected by the largely male circles in which she worked. She would be interred in Westminster Abbey. See if you can read the epitaph. /14

I'm very, very, very fond of Aphra, for her wit, her determination and her flaunting of the conventions of the era - all with great style and panache. Aphra deserves to be more well-known, especially in the #MeToo era. To learn more, start here. /FIN writersinspire.org/content/who-ap…

PS. She died in 1689. Sorry Aphra, you deserved much better than me leaving that out.