From the 14th of October to the 18th of August 2024, Aphra Behn, one of the most underrated literary icons of the 17th century had a prior exhibit at The Beaney High Street Canterbury. The event celebrated Aphra’s many successes, whether in espionage, paving a path for feminism, or her thought provoking tales. 

Born in Canterbury, Aphra Behn lived from 1640-1689 and is known for her various pieces of prose- poetry, plays and various novels, all with provocative plots. Her writing was provocative and particularly controversial due to a multitude of reasons: her challenging of gender roles- her prose often explored themes of female freedom and sensuality, challenging the norms of the time (The Fair Jilt), the intimacy of her prose- a lot of her writing had scenes with bold and often explicit themes, which would have provoked disapproval from contemporary audiences of The Restoration era (The Rover) and her tendency of using her works as criticism of political and social issues, especially seen in her play Oroonoko which looked at themes of racial discrimination and colonialism. 

The Beaney had various interactive tasks in Spymaster and told Aphra’s tale through the Beaney’s Collection and a video from the National Archives. Aphra’s story was told through writing spread around the passage, giving viewers a sense of excitement and encouraging them to explore.  

The entire experience was very fun and intriguing and was honestly far more interesting than I had expected. I hope that in the near future there are more exhibits on iconic literary figures, especially on figures as fascinating as Aphra Behn.