Direct Style and Rhetoric of Freedom in Aphra Behn's Oroonoko

The paper discusses the use of direct speech in Oroonoko, or The History of the Royal Slave by Aphra Behn (1688). As the majority of the direct speech in this novel belongs to the hero Oroonoko, special attention is paid to the choice of words and subject of his speeches. The central point is the analysis of his speech against slavery and his views on freedom.