This Special Number marks a particular moment in the study of Aphra Behn: 2020 is both the 350th anniversary of the staging of her first play, The Forc’d Marriage (1670, pub. 1671), and the year when The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Aphra Behn will start to appear in print. Volume IV, containing fully annotated, scholarly editions of The City-Heiress (1682), The Luckey Chance (1686, pub. 1687), The Emperor of the Moon (1687), and of the posthumously premièred The Widdow Ranter (1690) and The Younger Brother (1696) is currently in production. Given that 350-year anniversary, this Introduction will start by exploring some implications of reconsidering accepted truths about the print and performance circumstances of Behn’s first play, before turning to frame more fully the contents of this volume. As has been widely recognised, the focus of The Forc’d Marriage on the misery entailed in being required to wed an unwanted partner re-emerges repeatedly in Behn’s later work. When in The Luckey Chance Julia Fulbank laments, “Oh how fatal are forc’d Marriages! | How many Ruines one such Match pulls on” (8), she is echoing not just the title of Behn’s first play, but the sentiments of Ismena in The Amorous Prince (1671, 48), Florella in Abdelazer (1676, pub. 1677, 21), and Bellmour in The Town-Fopp (1676, pub. 1677, 45), to name only the most obvious parallels. Equally consistent in the critical assessment has been the account of the events surrounding the première of The Forc’d Marriage 350 years ago: that consensus holds that the play had a markedly successful first run of six days in September 1670, and that Behn’s long-standing friendship with Thomas Otway is indicated in her having cast him as the play’s king. Since all of the narratives referring to a six-day run draw on the same source, the memoirs of the prompter of the Duke’s Company, John Downes, that unanimity is perhaps not surprising. If Downes’s story of what happened is read again, though, in the light of developments in both theatre history and Behn Studies, a different picture emerges.

中文翻译：

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Aphra Behn 成立 350 周年和一些激进的重新想象

这个特殊数字标志着 Aphra Behn 研究中的一个特殊时刻：2020 年既是她的第一部戏剧 The Forc'd Marriage (1670, pub. 1671) 上演 350 周年，也是剑桥版Aphra Behn 的作品将开始印刷。第四卷，包含完整注释的学术版《城市女继承人》（1682 年）、《幸运机会》（1686 年，出版 1687 年）、《月亮皇帝》（1687 年）以及死后首映的《寡妇流浪者》（169​​0 年）和弟弟（1696）目前正在制作中。鉴于 350 周年，本导论将首先探讨重新考虑有关 Behn 第一部戏剧的印刷和表演环境的公认事实的一些含义，然后转向更全面地构建本书的内容。众所周知，强迫婚姻的焦点在被要求与不想要的伴侣结婚所带来的痛苦上，这在贝恩后来的作品中反复出现。在 The Luckey Chance 中，Julia Fulbank 感叹道：“哦，强迫婚姻是多么致命！| 这样的比赛有多少废墟”（8），她不仅呼应了贝恩第一部戏剧的标题，而且呼应了伊斯梅娜在《多情王子》（1671, 48）、阿卜杜拉泽（1676，pub. 1677， 21) 和 Bellmour in The Town-Fopp (1676, pub. 1677, 45)，仅举出最明显的相似之处。在批判性评估中同样一致的是围绕 350 年前《强迫婚姻》首映的事件的描述：一致认为该剧在 1670 年 9 月的六天首映中取得了显着的成功，贝恩与托马斯·奥特威的长期友谊体现在她将他选为剧中之王。由于所有关于为期六天的跑步的叙述都来自同一个来源，杜克公司的提示者约翰唐斯的回忆录，这种一致可能并不奇怪。然而，如果再次阅读唐斯关于发生的事情的故事，根据戏剧史和贝恩研究的发展，就会出现不同的画面。