King of Coramantien Character Analysis in Oroonoko

Over 100 years old, the king is Oroonoko’s grandfather. He has many wives, both old and young. As the culture of his society is highly patriarchal, the king’s word is law, and his lust knows no limits. Even though he knows that Imoinda is married to Oroonoko, the king takes her as his concubine, safe in the knowledge that it would be taboo for Oroonoko to ever take her back, even if the king himself dies. The king is generally portrayed as wicked and depraved, and as lacking Oroonoko’s sense of honor. He often forces himself on Imoinda, and though Imoinda returns to Oroonoko a virgin, the king’s relationship with her is understood to be sexual in nature: he is willing but unable to perform. The king also lies to Oroonoko, telling him that he had Imoinda put to death, when in reality he sold her into slavery—a much more demeaning sentence.

King of Coramantien Quotes in Oroonoko

The Oroonoko quotes below are all either spoken by King of Coramantien or refer to King of Coramantien. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

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Imoinda is as irrecoverably lost to me as if she were snatched by the cold arms of death… Oh! she is never to be retrieved… unless I would either ignobly set an ill precedent to my successors, or abandon my country, and fly with her to some unknown world who never heard our story.

Related Characters: (speaker), , ,

He sent a messenger to the camp, with orders to treat with him about the matter, to gain his pardon, and to endeavor to mitigate his grief; but that by no means he should tell him she was sold, but secretly put to death: for he knew he should never obtain his pardon for the other.

Related Characters: (speaker),