Pirates and Mutineers of the Nineteenth Century: Swashbucklers and Swindlers

Description

The first volume devoted to literary pirates in the nineteenth century, this collection examines changes in the representation of the pirate from the beginning of the nineteenth century through the late Victorian period. Gone were the dangerous ruffians of the eighteenth-century novel and in their place emerged a set of brooding and lovable rogues, as exemplified by Byron's Corsair. As the contributors engage with acts of piracy by men and women in the literary marketplace as well as on the high seas, they show that both forms were foundational in the promotion and execution of Britain's imperial ambitions. Linking the pirate's development as a literary figure with the history of piracy and the making of the modern state tells us much about race, class, and evolving gender relationships. While individual chapters examine key texts like Treasure Island, Dickens's 1857 'mutiny' story in Household Words, and Peter Pan, the collection as a whole interrogates the growth of pirate myths and folklore throughout the nineteenth century and the depiction of their nautical heirs in contemporary literature and culture. Cover Half Title Dedication Title Copyright Contents List of Figures Notes on Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Pirate Chic: Tracing the Aesthetics of Literary Piracy 2 The Pirate Poet in the Nineteenth Century: Trollope and Byron 3 Playing Pirate: Real and Imaginary Angrias in Branwell Brontë’s Writing 4 Ho! For China: Piratical Incursions, Free Trade Imperialism and Modern Chinese History, c. 1832-1834 5 The Wreck of the Corsair: Piracy, Political Economy and American Publishing 6 Female Pirates and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century American Popular Fiction 7 Mutiny on the Orion: The Legacy of the Hermione Mutiny and the Politics of Nonviolent Protest in Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South 8 Acts of Piracy: Black Ey’d Susan, Theatrical Publishing and the Victorian Stage 9 The Perils of Empire: Dickens, Collins and the Indian Mutiny 10 Pirates for Boys: Masculinity and Degeneracy in R.M. Ballantyne's Adventure Novels 11 Piracy, Race and Domestic Peril in Hard Cash 12 The Pirates of Penzance: The Slaves of Duty in an Age of Piracy 13 'Dooty is Dooty': Pirates and Sea-Lawyers in Treasure Island 14 Staging the Pirate: The Ambiguities of Representation and the Significance of Convention 15 Bram Stoker's The Mystery of the Sea: Law and Lawlessness, Piracy and Protectionism 16 Piracy and the Ends of Romantic Commercialism: Victorian Businessmen Meet Malay Pirates Bibliography Index