Aphra Behn's work has always been subject to critical fashion and her literary reputation was only really secured in the closing decade of this century, especially by new historicist and feminist critics.The essays collected here represent the best of a range of contemporary critical views, discussing both Behn's drama and her prose writings.Janet Todd provides a stimulating introduction mapping Behn' s literary reception, situating the works of the critics included in a broader literary context and pointing towards Behn as a newly politicized figure at the close of the twentieth century.