Prostitution in The Rover

As a “famous courtesan,” Angellica Bianca is both a commodity and an idol in The Rover. The portrayal of Angellica as a figure of worship departs from that of whores in other plays we’ve read—Behn seems to deliberately juxtapose the sacred and profane here. The Rover presents prostitution as one of three options society allows women (the others being marriage and the convent), but Angelica’s character also provides an avenue for critique of religious practice—specifically Catholicism. Angellica compares her “fall,” or loss of power to love, to a “long worshipped idol / Discovering all the cheat” and speaks of the “incense and rich sacrifice / Which blind devotion offered at [her] altars” (V.i.278-281). With this image of Angellica as idol, we can rethink her displayed photos in terms of statues or even relics. Is The Rover’s religious critique strong enough to validate a comparison of the Church and prostitution? If so, does this affect our reading of the significance of clothing/costume in the play?

Taking prostitution in another direction, what are we to make of Lucetta? In contrast to Angellica, who submits to love and emotion, is Lucetta a “successful” whore who keeps her control and has the last laugh over Blunt? Does the fact that this deed provokes such intense anger and misogyny in Blunt—which almost leads to a rape of Florinda—instead suggest her failure (when considering the position of women in general)? Why do we see so little of Lucetta's character in the play?