56 pages • 1 hour read
Aphra BehnThe Rover
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1677A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Act IIIAct Summaries & Analyses
Act III, Scene 1 Summary
That afternoon, Florinda, Hellena, and Valeria, followed by Callis, walk down the street in different costumes while still masked. Florinda wonders why Don Pedro was in such a terrible mood, worrying that perhaps he knows about their excursion that morning, but Hellena reassures her that if he had discovered it, he would have locked them up. Hellena does not understand why she is suddenly feeling so sad. Florinda and Valeria tease her that she is obviously in love. Valeria chuckles, “I laugh to think how thou art fitted with a lover, a fellow that, I warrant, loves every new face he sees” (43). Hellena explains that she has no plans to die of a broken heart. Her goal is to fall in love and be loved, and she still intends to achieve it.
Hellena spots Belvile, Frederick, and Blunt coming, and, wondering where Willmore has gone, she urges the other women to stand back and listen to what they say. Belvile discovers that Angellica’s painting has been taken down, and they wonder whether Willmore has charmed his way in for free, or if Angellica has simply killed him and run away. Hellena’s heart races, not knowing if the “he” they reference is Willmore. Belvile and Blunt decide to knock and ask for him. Moretta comes out on the balcony, and the men ask about the stranger who went in two hours ago. Moretta curses him but says that he is on his way out. Willmore enters, and Hellena is furious. Willmore gloats about his tryst with Angellica. Blunt asks if they are married. Willmore replies that they had “all of the honey of matrimony, but none of the sting, friend” (47) As Willmore beams, Sancho enters and pulls Blunt away, explaining that his lady (Lucetta) is waiting for him. Happily, Blunt decides to leave without saying anything, lest the other men mock him. Belvile questions Willmore about the gypsy girl (Hellena), and Willmore complains that Belvile has reminded him of her after he spent the afternoon forgetting her.
Hellena emerges from the shadows to ask if he has really forgotten about her. Willmore is startled, but quickly regains composure and swears that he has been searching for her all day. He insists that Hellena is to blame for staying so hidden. Aside, Hellena admits that she cannot stay mad when he is so charming. As penance, Willmore asks Hellena to show him her face. They flirt, trading witty double-entendres. Angellica, Moretta, and two servants, Biskey and Sebastian, enter in masked costumes. Angellica is hurt to see Willmore courting another woman so quickly, having thought that giving her heart to him would mean something. Hellena and Willmore continue to tease one another.
Watching on, Angellica seethes. Now that Hellena has laid out where they stand—claiming that she wants to fool as many men into romancing her as Willmore wants to trick women—she takes off her mask. Willmore sings praises of her beauty as she puts the mask back on, begging her to give him one more glance. Angellica is enraged. Instead of making herself known, she resolves, “I shall undo him” (50). She sends Sebastian to follow Hellena and learn who she is, and she sends Biskey to bring Willmore to see her. Meanwhile, Florinda, still masked, is talking to a gloomy-faced Belvile (who still does not recognize her), and Frederick flirts with Valeria. Valeria suggests that Belvile ought to flirt with Florinda instead of moping over his love, but Belvile is not interested. To test his loyalty, Florinda asserts that she is “no common mistress” (51) and offers him a jewel as proof, urging him to take it as a token of affection. Florinda says that she has watched Belvile from the window, and that women of her quality are not offered many chances at love. Frederick urges him to take it. Aside, Florinda laments that if he turns out to be unfaithful, all will be lost. But to Frederick’s chagrin, Belvile refuses out of loyalty to his love.
Hellena agrees to take her mask off again for Willmore if he will tell her what he was doing in Angellica’s house. At first, Willmore demurs and claims that he was just visiting a male friend, but Hellena repeats Willmore’s praises after coming out of the house, and Willmore tries to explain. Hellena announces that she has decided to never see his face again unless he promises to give up Angellica. Eagerly, Willmore kneels and swears fidelity to Hellena.
Callis calls that they need to go home, as it is getting dark. Florinda gives Belvile the jewel, and Belvile stares after her as she runs off. Willmore and Hellena bid longing farewells. After the women are gone, Belvile realizes that the gem contains a picture of Florinda, calling himself a “dull dog” (53) for not recognizing her. Willmore and Belvile praise their respective women. A brief misunderstanding nearly arises when Willmore thinks Belvile is talking about Hellena, but Belvile shows him Florinda’s picture. They decide to go and drink until the time comes to help Florinda escape.
Act III, Scene 2 Summary
With a candle, Lucetta leads Blunt into her house, promising that they do not need to worry about her jealous husband (who does not actually exist) coming home, which was why she hesitated at first. Blunt wishes that he had memorized some of Frederick’s flirty words, but Lucetta asserts that she just wants him and does not care about pretty compliments. Aside, Blunt fantasizes about killing her husband and marrying her. Lucetta exits to undress herself. Blunt waits impatiently. Sancho enters, carrying a candle, and tells Blunt that he is there to take him to Lucetta’s bedchamber. Blunt follows.
Act III, Scene 3 Summary
In the bedroom, Lucetta has undressed and slipped into bed. At the door, Sancho gives Blunt the candle and leaves. Ecstatic, Blunt undresses. Lucetta tells him to put out the candle to make sure no one will catch them. He does, but in the darkness, the bed moves. Blunt gropes around in the dark and then falls, naked, through a trap door, shouting for help. Sancho, Lucetta, and her lover Philippo enter and start sorting Blunt’s clothes, looking for valuables. Philippo grumbles that watching Lucetta flirt with Blunt made him jealous.
The three are astounded by how much wealth Blunt was carrying on his person. Since Blunt never learned Lucetta’s name or where she lives, he will be unable to find them again. Lucetta feels guilty that she did not even grant him sex before robbing him of all of his money, but Philippo replies that this is the way of the world: the smart and crafty fleece the foolish. Philippo persuades Lucetta to go to bed with him, and all three exit.
Act III, Scene 4 Summary
Blunt, filthy, climbs out of a sewer. He managed to escape by wandering until he found an exit, but he is too angry to celebrate. He feels like a fool to have trusted Lucetta. He dreads the ridicule of his friends, which he knows will be unbearable. Blunt reassures himself that there have certainly been other good-natured young men who have been thus deceived by women.
Act III, Scene 5 Summary
As planned, Florinda waits for Belvile and his friends in her family’s garden. She carries with her a jewelry box and a key to the garden. Belvile is late, but she hears a voice. Willmore appears, drunk and looking for his friends. He sees Florinda, and neither knows the other, but Willmore starts to flirt with her, ordering her to kiss him. When she resists, he grabs her and tries to convince her to have sex with him. Florinda struggles, threatening to scream out “rape” or “murder” (61), and Willmore responds angrily, calling her a liar. Willmore offers to pay for sex and tries to rape her as Florinda tries to fight him off.
Belvile and Frederick enter, still masked, having lost sight of Willmore. Belvile hears Florinda crying for help and intervenes. Willmore draws his sword. There are noises in the house, and Don Pedro awakes. Urgently, Florinda directs Belvile to wait under her bedroom window for her instructions, exclaiming, “This rude man has undone us” (62). Don Pedro enters with his servants and sends Stephano to check on Florinda. A fight erupts and the Spaniards drive the Englishmen out of the garden. Stephano returns to report that Florinda is fast asleep in bed. Don Pedro wonders why the door was open, and Stephano suggests that some of the other servants had left it open while celebrating the Carnival. Don Pedro spits, “Masquerading! A lewd custom to debauch our youth—there’s something more in this than I imagine” (63).
Act III, Scene 6 Summary
In the street, Belvile berates Willmore, who swears that he did not know the woman was Florinda. Belvile exclaims, “If it had not been Florinda, must you be a beast?—A brute, a senseless swine?” (63) Willmore, still drunk, pities himself for making such an unfortunate error. Frederick points out that Willmore is sorry and asks Belvile to forgive him. Willmore adds that in the low light, he “took her for an arrant [sic] harlot” (64). Belvile does not understand why Willmore could not see that there was something special about her, but Willmore persists, “I considered her as mere a woman as I could wish” (64). Belvile is ready to draw swords, but Willmore begs him to give him until tomorrow to fix the situation. Furious, Belvile agrees, although tomorrow Florinda will be married off to Don Antonio. Willmore tells him to direct him toward Don Antonio so he can take care of him, but Belvile has never seen him.
Willmore goes to Angellica’s house, where he had promised to spend the night, and finds Don Antonio there, having just paid Angellica’s fee. Belvile decides to go and stand under Florinda’s window until either something happens, or he dies. Willmore, enraged that another man is going to be with Angellica, draws his sword and fights with Don Antonio. Don Antonio falls. The servants cry out that he has been murdered. Willmore announces that he is going home to bed.
Belvile, hearing cries of murder, comes back, afraid despite his anger that it might be Willmore dead. But soldiers mistake him for the attempted murderer (since Don Antonio is only injured) and drag him away. Don Antonio recognizes Belvile as having attacked him twice and orders the soldiers to take him to Don Antonio’s apartment.
Act III Analysis
In the third act, the Carnival atmosphere of the play takes a dark turn. Blunt gets the comeuppance that his “friends” wished upon him in the first act, but it will have unforeseen consequences: his anger and desire for vengeance will come back violently on Florinda in Act IV. Even more disturbing in Act III is Willmore’s attempt to rape Florinda, which he justifies by explaining that he thought she was a sex worker. Don Pedro, who is unaware that Willmore has attacked his sister, blames the disturbance and subsequent sword fight on the debauchery of masquerading. This is ironic, since Don Pedro took part in the masquerading himself, and also true in a sense, although Don Pedro does not know why he is correct. When they mask up and hide their identities, Florinda and Hellena do not seem to realize that they are venturing out into the world without the protection of their status. They receive the treatment that men deal to other women—treatment that no man would dare to knowingly inflict on two young virgins from a well-connected family.
The attempted rape scene is a common Restoration Comedy trope that appears in the second act to capitalize on the novelty of having women’s bodies onstage. The rape scene is a way to sexualize female characters who are meant to be virginal and “pure” without compromising their “purity.” Since Florinda needs to remain a virgin for the comic plot to see its way through to a happy ending (a marriage), Willmore’s drunk attempt is unsuccessful. However, Willmore demonstrates that while there may be a social difference between “an arrant [sic] harlot” (64) and a friend’s beloved, they look and essentially are the same—especially in the dark. The risk of violence that the women in the play face—whether high-born or lower-class—exposes the vulnerability of all women in their patriarchal society.
Hellena tries to appropriate the autonomy usually reserved for men by claiming that she desires to be as much of a philanderer as Willmore. However, Hellena remains singularly focused on Willmore, while Willmore is courting and harassing every woman he sees. The women also seem to take Willmore’s betrayal with more dignity, as openly fighting is more the purview of the men. Their swords, which come out in the play when the men are fighting over and trying to protect their women, are pointedly phallic. No one ever kills anyone or even solves any problems through the sword fights; instead, they symbolize the ineffectual peacockery of masculine pride. The women are smart and capable, and they solve their problems much more efficiently than the men, who seem to exist in a continuous state of mistaken identity.
