The Rover

A young Spanish noblewoman, Hellena is Don Pedro and Florinda’s younger sister. She is witty, beautiful, intelligent, and determined to rebel against the decision of her father and brother to send her to a convent and become a nun. She is also a reasonable alternate choice for the play’s protagonist, as the rover is her object of pursuit, and she defies gender roles by pursuing him.

Hellena sees a life of chastity as a waste of her vivaciousness and youth. She wants to experience love and lust, preferably by finding a man to marry her and keep her out of the convent, and the Carnival represents her last chance. The less conventional spelling of her name (more commonly “Helena”) brings out the word “hell,” which Hellena is happy to raise or risk inhabiting to make the most of her earthly experiences. Hellena feels no obligation to obey her brother and father, although obedience is meant to be her duty as a young woman of “quality.” At first it seems unfortunate that she has fallen for Willmore, who seems to be an unlikely candidate for marriage. In a more sentimental play, Hellena would soften Willmore’s heart and turn him into a romantic devotee. However, she maintains that she does not want real commitment any more than Willmore does, and she sees devotion-based, romantic marriage (like Florinda’s ideal) as an institution that eventually becomes as stifling as the convent.

Hellena is also openly motivated by her sexual desires, even though she—unlike Willmore—must be far more cautious in how she goes about satisfying them. Both marriage and the convent are socially respectable paths for Hellena as a virgin, whereas premarital sex is not. Hellena has no interest in becoming a sex worker or an outcast. Of the two choices, marriage gives her freedom to move around within society and do what she wants. Once she is married, she is allowed to no longer be a virgin, and marriage protects her honor and status—this is the reason that the young, attractive rakes in most Restoration Comedies seduce their friends’ wives rather than the virtuous ingenue, who would force them into marriage. The character of a woman who schemes like a typical playboy character is an example of the way Behn’s represents female perspectives in her writing, enabling her to occasionally subvert gendered expectations for her female characters. 

As Hellena and Don Pedro’s sister, Florinda is also a young Spanish noblewoman. She acts as a foil to Hellena by presenting a clear contrast in the first moments of the play between Hellena’s rebelliousness and Florinda’s obedience. Florinda and Hellena are opposites in many ways, each demonstrating that trusting in patriarchal family members to control a woman’s life will only land her on one of the twin paths of respectability—an arranged marriage or the convent—and that neither is advantageous for her. Florinda’s name evokes images of flowers, which are delicate, beautiful, and easy to destroy—qualities that evoke her delicacy and vulnerability.

The play begins right as Florinda has decided to stop being obedient and rebel to have the life she wants. As a virtuous young woman who falls for the man who saved her and protected her from rape during a siege, Florinda’s desires still fall into patriarchal patterns and gender roles. Florinda and Belvile are the traditional romantic lovers, whose premarital love is entirely chaste and idealized. However, when thrown into the less idyllic and more cynical world of a Restoration Comedy, Florinda finds herself in repeated danger. Florinda is twice branded a sex worker by men who trying to rape her, despite her desperate attempts to protect her virginity. Ultimately, only men can truly save her from other men, suggesting that even securing the marriage of her choosing does not grant total liberation.

Don Pedro, a Spanish nobleman, is the older brother of Florinda and Hellena. He is the family patriarch while their father is out of town, a period that seems to be on the verge of ending. Although their father will undoubtedly return to the head of the household when he comes back, Don Pedro undermines his father’s will in an act of dominance that characterizes the youthful seizing of agency that occurs throughout the play. Their father expects Florinda to marry the much older Don Vincentio, whose connections will benefit the family. Don Pedro disagrees with this decision and has decided to offer Florinda up to Don Antonio—his own friend and contemporary—instead. Don Pedro’s plan will undoubtedly upset their father, but will amount to the same type of advantageous match to a well-connected man. Don Pedro claims that he has planned the quick marriage for Florinda’s sake, since he hates Don Vincentio like Florinda does, but he refuses to consider love or Florinda’s will for her own life.

Until the end of the play, Don Pedro is unyielding in his determination to make decisions for his sisters, which makes sense, since “Pedro” comes from root words that mean “stone or rock.” He acts as the embodiment for society’s treatment of women as property. Don Pedro understands love, as he is so enamored with Angellica that he once made a fool of himself by trying to woo her during her time as his uncle’s courtesan. However, he ultimately treats all women as commodities to be bought and sold. He is effectively selling his sisters for the sake of the family’s social/financial and religious status. He is content to buy time with the woman he loves, never considering that he could woo her like Willmore and gain her affection. Most egregiously of all, when he thinks Florinda is a lower-class sex worker, he nearly rapes his own sister. Don Pedro underestimates women because tradition says that he can, and he is therefore punished in the play when the women trick him and get what they want.

In Italian—since the play takes place in Spanish-occupied Naples—“Bel” means “handsome and kind,” and “vile” means “lowly or worthless.” Belvile’s name describes the conundrum of his relationship with Florinda. Belvile is attractive, valiant, and kind, which are all qualities that won him Florinda’s love. However, as an English Cavalier living in exile, he lost any wealth or status that he had as a colonel for the king with the defeat of the monarchy. Like the others, he is now a mercenary, or a soldier for hire—a profession which bears some essential similarities to prostitution.

Belvile was a hired soldier for the French, likely during the Franco-Spanish War, when he met Florinda during a siege in Pamplona. The circumstances suggest that Belvile would have been on the opposing side, yet he protected both Florinda and Don Pedro from harm, suggesting that even without wealth, a family title, or home country, a Royalist gentleman is inherently noble. Like Florinda, Belvile is unwavering in his courtly love and never tempted to stray, demonstrating that despite their current differences in wealth, they are well-matched in nobility of character.

It was common in Restoration Comedies to include a character who represents the enemies of theatre and represent them as unsophisticated, unintelligent, and worthy of mockery. Blunt is the only one of the Englishmen who never became a Cavalier, therefore avoiding giving up his fortune and status. While Blunt is not outwardly Puritan, he is unworldly and conservative, expressing horror at the idea of a courtesan.

Of all of the characters’ meaningful names, Blunt’s is the only one that Behn made artlessly obvious: Blunt is as sharp as a hammer, oblivious to the disdain of his friends and so easily duped that Lucetta feels guilty for tricking him. Since Blunt is clearly his last name, it suggests that he comes from a long line of Blunts, who according to Belvile raised him to be spoiled and sheltered. It is also significant that Blunt is not just a harmless fool to laugh at: His potential for cruelty comes out when his pride is challenged, whether from other men laughing at him or being seduced by a woman who robs him. Blunt’s anger toward Lucetta becomes dangerous as he looks for someone to punish and decides that Florinda will serve as a substitute. His relentlessly ignoble behavior suggests that, unlike the other Cavaliers, he has no redeeming qualities that could secure him a happy ending at the play’s close.