Oroonoko: or the Royal Slave was written by Aphra Behn and published in 1688. The novel tells the story of a tragic love affair between Oroonoko, an African prince, and Imoinda, the daughter of an African general. In the story the lovers are forced into slavery and transported to Surinam in the West Indies, then an English colony based on sugarcane plantations. The lovers make a death pact in preference to a life lived under slavery. Oroonoko kills Imoinda before suffering an inhumane death in a public execution.

Behn’s novel was not immediately successful but a 1695 adaptation for stage by Thomas Southerne brought the story to a wider audience and was a great success. After the play was staged, a new edition of the novel appeared and it remained in print throughout the 18th century. The adaptation was generally faithful to the novel, with one significant exception: it makes Imoinda white instead of black, therefore the male lead would perform in blackface to a white heroine. This print, an illustration to act v, scene iii of Southerne’s stage adaptation, presents Oroonoko in the guise of the ‘noble savage’, with European facial features and wearing elaborate dress including a feathered turban.