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Frederick Marryat (1792-1848) |
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English naval officer, traveller, hero of the Napoleonic wars, whose novels became very popular in the first half of the 19th century and are still read. Frederick Marryat developed further the great tradition of adventure stories, established by Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and continued in the historical novels of Walter Scott, the Leatherstocking tales of James Fenimore Cooper, and later in the novels of C. S. Forester, Nicholas Monsarrat, and Patrick O'Brian. Also Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf and Herman Melville were fans of Frederick Marryat. Most of Marryat's tales of battles, storms, and shipwrecks drew on his own experiences at sea. "If I cannot narrate a life of adventaroas and daring exploits, fortunately I have no heavy crimes to confess: and, if I do not rise in the estimation of the reader for acts of gallantry and devotion in my country's cause, at least I may claim the merit of zealous and persevering continuance in my vocation. We are all of us variously gifted from Above, and he who is content to walk, instead of to run, on his allotted path through life, although he may not so rapidly attain the goal, has the advantage of not being out of breath upon his arrival. Not that I mean to infer that my life has not been one of adventure. I only mean to say, that in ail which has occurred, I have been a passive, rather than an active, personage; and, if events of interest are to be recorded, they certainly have not been sought by me." (from Peter Simple by Capt. Marryat, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1842, p. 1; originally published in 1834) Frederick Marryat was born in London into a large middle-class family. His father, Joseph Marryat, was a member of the Parliament, who wrote several political pamphlets. He also served as a colonial agent for the island of Grenada. The father of Charlotte von Geyer, Frederick's mother, was of German descent. Marryat was educated privately. A natural rebel, he disliked his tutors and school-masters and constantly ran away from home. At Holmwood School at Ponder's End, near Enfield, his classmate was Charles Babbage, the future mathematician. Inspired by Admiral Nelson's victorious Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Marryat entered the Royal Navy in 1806, at the age of 14. He first sailed as a midshipman on H.M.S. Impérieuse under Captain Lord Cochrane (1806-09) – to these experiences he also returned in his writings. "The Impérieuse sailed; the Admiral of the port was one who would be obeyed, but would not listen always to reason or common sense. The signal for sailing was enforced by gun after gun; the anchor was hove up, and, with all her stores on deck, her guns not even mounted, in a state of confusion unparalleled from her being obliged to hoist faster than it was possible she could stow away, she was driven out of harbour to encounter a heavy gale." Under Cochrane, whose character left marks on Marryat's heroes, he cruised along the coast of France, and saw some active service in the Mediterranean. Lord Cochrane was also the model for C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower. During his career at sea, Marryat participated in many campaigns throughout the world. He served on the flagship Centaur in the Mediterranean in 1810, on the Aeolus and Spartan in the West Indies and off the coast of North America in 1811-12. Marryat served in the West Indies on the Espiègle. While serving as a lieutenant on the Newcastle,
Marryat sailed off the coast of North America. In 1815 he was appointed
Commander. To guard against any Bonapartist fanatic who might try
to put Napoleon back to the throne, he cruised on the sloop Beaver off St. Helena. In 1819 Marryat married Catherine Shairp; they had four sons and seven daughters. Catherine's father was the British consul Sir Stephen Shairp, who has spent several years in Russia. According to some sources, Marryat was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society due to his skill in drawing caricatures. After the death of Napoleon in 1821, he took a sketch of him in full profile, which was engraved in England and France. Apparently suffering from dysentry, he was unable to continue sailing and he returned to England for a period. Married life did not motivate Marryat to stray on land. Between 1820 and 1822 he was involved in suppression of Channel smuggling. Later as a writer he displayed some sympathy for smugglers who ran cargoes of brandy from Cherbourgh, the centre of the trade, to the coast of Hampshire and Dorsetshire. He then served in the First Burmese War and was in 1824 a Senior Naval Officer at Rangoon, and commanded an expedition up the Bassein River. Partly by bribes and partly by military force, he succeeded in bringing many of the local leaders under British rule. While in Burma he acquired a huge collection of weapons, a Burmese shrine, tusks of a sacred elephant, and other miscellaneous curious. He also had a collection of jewels carved out of bodies by the sailors under his command. One of his greatest treasures was the statue of the King of Ava. In 1825 Marryat was appointed Captain of the Tees. He commanded Ariadne in the Atlantic service and retired in 1830 with a Captain's rank. From 1832 to 1835 Marryat edited the Metropolitan Magazine, in which several of his novels came out wholly or in part. In 1836 he lived in Brussels. After two years in Canada and the United States (1837-39), he recorded his impressions in A Diary in America (1839). Originally he set out on the trip, at least in part, to escape from his unhappy marriage. In 1839 he separated from his wife Catherine. Having an accurate eye for small details, Marryat noted in a travel diary that the dental hygiene of the ordinary Americans was still very poor. He also complained that a gentleman could not rent a carriage on Sundays in Lexinton, Kentucky, because slaves rented them all for their own pleasure. From 1839 to 1843 Marryat lived in London in the circle of such writers as Clarkson Stanfield, Samuel Rogers, and Charles Dickens, with whom his friendship remained unbroken. However, as his daughter later recalled, "he was quick to take offence," and lost many friends due to his nature. After a life at sea and publishing books, Marryat settled finally in Langham, Norfolk, where he spent his days farming and writing. His handwriting was so small that his copyreaders had to leave pins in his manuscripts when they stopped reading in order to find their place later. During his last years Marryat had health problems and the news of the death of his eldest son, Frederick, destroyed his own chances of recovery. He died in Langham, Norfolk, on August 9, 1848. His daughter Florence Marryat (1838-1899) became a popular writer. She also worked as a lecturer, operatic singer, and comedienne. In 1872 she published the Life and Letters of her father. "Although not handsome," Florence Marryat wrore, "Captain Marryat's personal appearance was very prepossessing. In figure he was upright and broad-shouldered for his height, which measured 5ft. 10in... The character of his mind was borne out by his features, the most salient expression of which was the frankness of an open heart." Marryat's first novel, The Naval Officer (1829), was narrated by Frank Mildmay, whose rapid rise in the ranks of the Royal Navy followed the author's own career. "I was frank, generous, quick, and mischievous, and I must admit that a large portion of what sailors call "devil" was openly displayed," the hero confesses. In the following works Marryat's protagonist's often were troubled young rascals, who mature during their adventures. Joseph Conrad argued in his essay on Marryat's novels that the sea never had an important role in the author's works; it was a stage for his characters and the code of duty: "He loved his country first, the Service next, the sea perhaps not at all." "I would rather write for the instruction, or even the amusement of the poor than for the amusement of the rich," Marryat once said, "and I would sooner raise a smile or create an interest in the honest mechanic or agricultural labourer who requires relaxation, than I would contribute to dispel the ennui of those who loll on their couches and wonder in their idleness what they shall do next." The Kings Own (1830), Marryat's second novel, was received with adulation by critics. "I
hope you are busy with your pen, and that you intend to show up some of
the old wreckers and rovers of the ocean. You have a glorious field
before you," wrote Washington Irving in his letter to the author. Among Marryat's other best-known works for adults are Mr. Midshipman Easy (1836), Newton Forster (1832), Peter Simple TER (1834), and Jacob Faithful (1834). The Phantom Ship (1839) was based on the famous legend of the Flying Dutchman. A number of authors have retold it from different ponts of view and Richard Wagner used in his opera Der Fliegende Hollander. One of the most ambitious but unfinished adaptation's was Nicholas Monsarrat's (1910-1979) the Master Mariner sequence Running Proud (1978) and Darken Ship (1980). In Marryat's melodramatic work the protagonist is the Dutchman's son, captain Philip Vanderdecken, who tries to save his father with the fragment of the True Cross. In the 1840s, Marryat turned to write
children's books, mainly because they usually sold well. Masterman Ready (1841), inspired by Johann Wyss' The Swiss Family Robinson
(1812-13), it depicted realistically the family Seagrave's life on a
deserted island after a shipwreck. Other children's books included Settlers in Canada (1844), owing much to Cooper's stories of North American Indians, The Mission (1845), and The Children of the New Forest
(1847), a historical novel set in the times of Cromwell and Civil War.
The central characters are Royalists, but in spite of his attack on the Parliamentarians, the Parliamentary
superintendent and his daughter are portrayed with equal sympathy. Marryat's final novel, The Little Savages (1848-49), a Robinsonnade about a young boy and a sailor, was completed by Frank S. Marryat. Mr Midshipman Easy,
a sea adventure set in the time of the Napoleonic Wars, was filmed in
1935 by Carol Reed. Although Marryat has been criticized for writing
too much and too rapidly, his style has been praised for its lucidity
and effectiveness. In Newton Forster, or the Merchant Service,
Marryat wrote ironically, that there are three portions of a novel
which are difficult to arrange to the satisfaction of his critics: "The
first is the beginning, the second the middle, and the third is the
end." Two of his best works, Jacob Faithful, and Japhet, in Search of a Father (1836), were set on land. For further reading: The Life and Letters of Captain Marryat by Florence Marryat (1872); The Life of Captain Frederick Marryat by D. Hannay (1889); Excursions in Victorian Bibliography by Michael Sadleir (1922); Captain Marryat: a Rediscovery by Oliver Warner (1953); Captain Frederick Marryat, l'homme et l'oeuvre, etc. by Maurice Paul Gautier (1973); Captain Marryat by Alan Buster (1980); 'Puzzled Which to Choose': Conflicting Socio-Political Views in the Works of Captain Frederick Marryat by Louis J. Parascandola (1997); Captain Marryat: Seaman, Writer and Adventurer by Tom Pocock (2001); Sailors, Ships and the Sea in the Novels of Captain Frederick Marryat by Marek Błaszak (2006); Various Aspects of Mimesis in Selected Sea Novels of Frederick Marryat, James F. Cooper and Richard H. Dana by Joanna Mstowska (2013); The Maritime Supernatural of Frederick Marryat, William Clark Russell and William Hope Hodgson by Gerarda Dorothea Mezina Jonk (2017); Victorian Coral Islands of Empire, Mission, and the Boys' Adventure Novel by Michelle Elleray (2020) Selected works:
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