Here, Goreau traces the critical and popular reaction to some of Behn's works, focusing especially on the writer's criticism of the "property-marriage system" in her plays.

An American critic and educator, Gardiner has published a study on the verse of English poet and dramatist Ben Jonson and has also contributed essays to several publications devoted to feminist criticism and scholarship. In the following essay, she states that Behn expressed in her verse a desire for the liberation of women from repressive social and political norms.

Below, Cotton studies the development of Behn's career and the course of critical reaction to her work.

Here, Gallagher focuses on The Lucky Chance, exploring how Behn "created a persona that skillfully intertwined the age's available discourses concerning women, property, selfhood and authorship."

In the following excerpt, the critics assess the coherence and principles of the ostensibly feminist ideology presented in Behn's poem "The Golden Age. "

In the following excerpt, Duyfhuizen explicates the poem "The Willing Mistress" through comparisons to other verse by Behn and to her drama The Dutch Lover, finding that the poem is a metaphor for a woman trying to retain her identity and control in a male-dominated world.

Duffy on the neglect of Behn:

In the following essay, Barash argues that Behn 's erotic poems contest "the heterosexual assumptions on which lovers' language is based. " Barash focuses primarily on the poem "The Disappointment."

An American educator specializing in English literature, Link has published editions of works by Behn, John Dryden, Hannah Cowley, and Walter Scott. In the following excerpt, he provides an overview of Behn's poetry.

In the essay below, Kegan Gardiner maintains that Behn's work is imbued with eroticism, reflecting the author's belief that "sexual passion … [is the root of all social impulse. "]

In the following excerpt, Ballaster explores the relationship between Behn's poetry and her opinions about gender roles.

Woolf is one of the most prominent literary figures of twentieth-century English literature. Like her contemporary James Joyce, with whom she is often compared, Woolf is remembered as one of the most innovative of the streamof-consciousness novelists. Concerned primarily with depicting the life of the mind, she revolted against traditional narrative techniques and developed her own highly individualized style. Her criticial essays, which cover almost the entire range of English literature, contain some of ...

Vita Sackville-West was an English poet, novelist, biographer, and essayist. In the following excerpt, she judges whether Behn should more appropriately be considered a poet or a songwriter.

In the following poem, Kendrick praises Behn in exalted terms, likening her to a goddess and declaring her verse superior to that of Orinda (Katherine Philips), Sappho, and even Ovid.

In responding to a reader's question, the editor opines that Behn's poetry is uncannily similar in spirit to that of Sappho, and wishes that Behn had produced her own translation of Sappho's verse.