54 pages • 1 hour read
Captain Blood: His Odyssey
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Background
Historical Context: 17th-Century Conflicts and the English Succession
Historical events of the 1680s influence the fate, both personal and professional, of Peter Blood, providing the catalyst and conclusion of his odyssey. The catalyst is the ascension of James II to the English throne after his brother Charles II died. Charles’s illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth declared himself the rightful heir. Thousands of men in the West Country supported the Protestant Monmouth over the Catholic James, but their rebellion was a failure that resulted in hundreds of executions. Some of the rebels were convicted at the “Bloody Assizes,” sham trials presided over by Judge Jeffreys, and received death sentences. James saw an opportunity to profit from other rebels (and their associates such as Peter Blood) by selling them into slavery in the West Indies.
The event that provides a conclusion to Blood’s journey is the Glorious Revolution in 1689, when a group of prominent Englishmen asked the king’s Dutch son-in-law, William of Orange, to bring troops to fight for Protestantism and constitutional government. William accepted and brought troops to England, but the anticipated battle never happened because James II fled to France before William could engage him. William and Mary—his wife and James II’s daughter—became joint monarchs. The change in England’s royal succession gives Captain Blood his freedom. No longer an outlaw, he can serve the English crown. Blood replaces Colonel Bishop as Deputy-Governor of Jamaica.
Literary Context: Popular Historical Fiction
Captain Blood is a work of popular historical fiction, a genre that originated in early 19th-century novels like Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley and Ivanhoe. These novels reached a wide readership by portraying appealing characters who witness or participate in exciting historical events, live in real historical locations, and interact with real historical figures. By the beginning of the 20th century, popular historical fiction was often sensational and appealed to readers by offering an imaginative escape. Rafael Sabatini’s historical fiction stands out because it contains well-researched facts while also fascinating readers with its dramatic scenes and characters.
Sabatini repeatedly used a character trope that had been successful in historical fiction for decades: the swashbuckling trickster. Versions of the trope appear in works like Alexandre Dumas’s Musketeer series, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, and Baroness Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel. The swashbuckling trickster (usually male) bests his enemies with disguises, witty wordplay, and dangerous maneuvers. This hero can wield a sword with ease, but he avoids shedding blood unless necessary to defend himself and protect others. He is often a rebel in an oppressive regime and—although his disposition seems whimsical and his methods unorthodox—he upholds traditional values of justice, reciprocity, and chivalry. Film adaptations of Sabatini’s The Sea-Hawk and Captain Blood launched Errol Flynn’s career. The character type endures in works like The Princess Bride and the Pirates of the Caribbean series.
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