The History of the Nun - Aphra Behn

This is a story about a girl named Isabella whose mother died at a young age, forcing Isabella to become a nun. Her father decides to become a priest after the death of her mother and sends Isabella off to a monastery. Her father tells her that at age 13 it will be her choice to either get married or to become a nun. But what her father wanted her to definitely do when she came of age was to go abroad.

"Isabella arriving at her Thirteenth Year of Age, and being pretty tall of Stature, with the finest Shape that Fancy can create, with all the Adornment of a perfect brown-hair’d Beauty, Eyes black and lovely, Complexion fair; to a Miracle, all her Features of the rarest proportion, the Mouth red, the Teeth white, and a thousand Graces in her Meen and Air; she came no sooner abroad, but she had a thousand Persons fighting for love of her; the Reputation her Wit had acquir’d, got her Adorers without seeing her, but when they saw her, they found themselves conquer’d and undone; all were glad she was come into the World, of whom they had heard so much, and all the Youth of the Town dress’d only for Isabella de Valerie, thatrose like a new Star that Eclips’d all the rest, and which set the World a-gazing."

She was a beautiful young woman and she was loved by many, but she decided not to get married. Instead, she wanted to follow the path of becoming a nun.

But... little did she know that she would fall in love with her best friends brother. Henault. She falls madly in love with him and spontaneously deicdes to runaway with him, despite her track of becoming a nun. Shortly after, Henault is sent off to war where Isabella thinks that he dies.

Since she thinks that her husband has died, she ends up marry another man, Villenoy. Little does she know, Henault is still alive. He comes back into her life and she is entirely confused. She gets so confused and frustrated that she decides the right thing to do is to kill Henault. But...that's not all! She kills Villenoy as well. That will definitely make all her problems go away, right??

I think that Isabella believed that by killing both of her lovers that all her probelms would disappear, but it doesn't work like that. Once again, Aphra Behn ends her story with a grusome ending; the killing of two of Isabella's lovers.