Bondage of "Love" in Oroonoko

The final form of bondage in "Oroonoko" is the mental bondage associated with his love for the General's daughter, Imoinda. Because he is so in love with this woman, he cannot perform his civil duties as the Prince. He is so enthralled and captivated with this woman that it leads to his eventual enslavement, and mental of physical forms of bondage. This woman, and his love for this woman, causes him to be enslaved mentally within the bounds of "war", the bondage of "royalty" and the eventual bondage of "love". All of these menatl and physical contraints unfortunately leads to the eventaul bondage of the "self". One of the most intriguing aspects of slave narratives is that eventhough slaves are physically bound by their slave holders, the slave holders cannot take away their mental freedoms. In Oroonoko's case, his mental freedoms are extinguished because of his mental enslavement to Imoinda. While most other slaves at this time are not free physically. They have no physical free will. They do however have free will of the mind. Oroonoko cannot perform this act. He is truely enslaved, regardless of his royal status.