The Royal Slave was an interesting read, and definitely gave me Romeo and Juliet vibes throughout the tale. The battle Oroonoko and Imoinda to be together is constant. Then they almost win in the end, but the story ends in the death of both lovers. I imagine Behn could have taken inspiration for The Royal Slave from Romeo and Juliet; the success of the latter was well known, and to expand off of that, in a way, would have been a good idea for any author.

I think that The Royal Slave definitely sparked some abolitionist ideas for a lot of people. White people obviously saw black people as not human, in some sort of way. They distanced themselves from slaves in an attempt to make slavery alright. But I think that The Royal Slave brought in a factor that closed that distance; royalty. Normally, those who became slaves were seen as those who were poor off anyway. That’s what made it ok, and that’s what separated the whites from the blacks. But what if you brought a black prince into the picture? A black person who was quite well off before becoming a slave? That could have made slave owners and white people realize the horrors of slavery; if it could happen to a rich and powerful prince, it could happen to anyone. A royal life was taken away, and that wasn’t acceptable at all.