Knowledge Bank

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, pirates proved to be a real threat on the high seas as they became self-proclaimed villains of all nations. By interrupting trade, colonialism, and social order, pirates came to symbolize political and economic individualism. Eighteenth century writers were inspired by the activities of these pirates and utilized them in their works in order to make economic and political arguments about the state of eighteenth century Europe. During the nineteenth century Romantic era, writers altered the traditional portrayal of literary pirate and began presenting the pirate as a romantic anti-hero. In this paper, I will examine five eighteen and nineteenth works that contain a pirate episode or a pirate figure in order to both trace the shifting image of the pirate and to demonstrate a connection between how writers utilize pirates to help convey their individual meanings. I begin my analysis with an examination of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and continue to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. I will analyze how each author portrays their pirates and why the pirate proves significant in the full context of their works. In the realm of literature, the pirate figure serves as the embodiment of individuality and although the image of the pirate has changed throughout the centuries, I will prove that the pirate has maintained its status as a symbol of social freedom.