Publisher's Synopsis
The History of the Nun, or The Fair Vow Breaker, is a novella by Aphra Behn published in 1689. It is a piece of early 18th-century amatory fiction. Some of the story's main themes include woman's desire, guilt, and reputation. A specific example of certain themes are shown throughout the novella as Isabella's desire to uphold society's expectations of being a virtuous woman, her love for Henualt after breaking her vows, but also for her desire to get away with murder and to maintain her reputation. The book, and Aphra Behn as a female writer, inspired many other writers to use amatory fiction as a way to write about women. It contains an introduction which may suggest a romantic affair between the author and Hortense Mancini, niece of Cardinal Mazarin, one of the mistresses of Charles II and "adventuresses" of the 17th century.Aphra Behn was an English playwright, poet, translator and fiction writer from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barriers and served as a literary role model for later generations of women authors.
