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Essay / The Women in "The Rover" by Aphra Behn - 1792
The double standards for men and women regarding sexuality in "The Rover" become especially evident when looking at the end of the play. Willmore is an incredibly sexually liberated character. He spends almost the entire play chasing women. He pursues Florinda in the garden calling her a "good girl" (903) and pursues her again later in the play calling her a "woman of excellent quality" (924) while spending the entire play flirting with Hellena and Angellica. Willmore is a debauched man, wanting "all the honey of marriage, but none of the trouble" (900), meaning he wants sex without commitment. He is inconstancy personified and the two women who are interested in him are aware of it. Angellica exclaims that "there is no faith in anything he says" (922) and when Hellena makes Willmore swear never to see any other woman except her again, she knows that his efforts are vain in saying “Now, what a wicked creature am I, the devil. a good guy. (903) Yet Willmore is not punished for his inconstancy and sexual liberation, in fact he is rewarded by Hellena who is beautiful, a rich woman of quality, and "of