The Rover falls into the genre of Restoration comedy, which encompasses English comedies that were written in the decades after the restoration of the Stuart monarchy. In 1660, Charles II returned to power from having been exile in Europe after the regicide of his father.
Restoration comedies very often feature immoral and sexually explicit behavior. This was perhaps a sort of resistance against the puritan values of the Interregnum. Merely staging plays like The Rover was a way for people to take a stand: Cromwell banned theater performances when he came to power, and this ban remained throughout the 18-year Interregnum. The sexually explicit nature of Restoration comedies was also an expression of the new king's taste and vision. As he returned to power, Charles II sought to make theater an important part of his court and encouraged dramatists to write explicitly erotic plays.
Several elements consolidate the play as a Restoration comedy. Like many other plays from the time, The Rover presents a commentary on and parody of upper-class society. While she may have set it in Naples, Behn is using the play to examine the situation in her home country. Just like Carnival offers the Cavaliers the inverse of the puritan regime they are in exile from, the Restoration freed Englishmen from the restrictions of the Interregnum. Although Behn was a Royalist, she nonetheless had critiques to level against the contrasting intentions and realities of the Restoration. Another element that reinforces the play's genre is its themes, which revolve around love, courtship, and the marriage market as well as immorality, deceit, and revenge. Furthermore, the play's witty language and sexually explicit language reinforces the play as a Restoration comedy. Many plays that belong to this genre include, on their lists of characters, a leading rake figure. Behn's rake, Willmore, is not only one of the characters with the most dialogue, but he is also the "rover" (wanderer) to which the title refers.
