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In English-speaking popular culture, the modern pirate stereotype owes its attributes mostly to the imagined tradition of the 18th-century Caribbean pirate sailing off the Spanish Main and to such celebrated 20th-century depictions as Captain Hook and his crew in the theatrical and film versions of J. M. Barrie's children's book Peter Pan , Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in the 1950 film adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Treasure Island , and various adaptations of the Middle Eastern pirate, Sinbad the Sailor . In these and countless other books, films, and legends, pirates are portrayed as "swashbucklers" and "plunderers". They are shown on ships, often wearing eyepatches or peg legs, having a parrot perched on their shoulder, speaking in a West Country accent, and saying phrases like "Arr, matey" and "Avast, me hearty".[ citation needed ] Pirates have retained their image through pirate-themed tourist attractions, film, toys, books and plays.
The characteristics of pirates in popular culture largely derive from the Golden Age of Piracy in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, with many examples of pirate fiction being set within this era. Vikings, who were also pirates, took on a distinct and separate archetype in popular culture, dating from the Viking revival. The first major literary work to popularise the subject of pirates was A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious pirates (1724) by Captain Charles Johnson. [1] In giving an almost mythical status to the more colourful characters, such as the notorious English pirates Blackbeard and Calico Jack, the book provided the standard account of the lives of many pirates in the Golden Age, and influenced pirate literature of Scottish novelists Robert Louis Stevenson and J. M. Barrie. [2] While Johnson's text recounted the lives of many famous pirates from the era, it is likely that he used considerable licence in his accounts of pirate conversations. [3]
Stevenson's Treasure Island (1883) is considered the most influential work of pirate fiction, along with its many film and television adaptations, and introduced or popularised many of the characteristics and cliches now common to the genre. Stevenson identified Johnson's General History of the pirates as one of his major influences, and even borrowed one character's name (Israel Hands) from a list of Blackbeard's crew which appeared in Johnson's book. [4]
In 18th and 19th century Britain, historical-fiction portrayals of pirates on the dramatic stage included false flag props representing the various European navies. A common trope was to represent the archetypical scene where a crew of privateers donned false uniforms along with the false flag as they approached a ship, only raising the skull and bones flag at the last moment before the attack. Other tricks often portrayed on stage included (in a more initially peaceful encounter of ships) the pirate offering to gamble, or claiming the need to inspect documents or retrieve a runaway prisoner, before placing the victim of the scheme in shackles. These portrayals of pirate characters were fictionalised but based on the mythologised historical memory of both the Golden Age of Piracy and the contemporary pirates at that time. Barbary corsairs were a frequent type of pirate portrayed in that genre of stage and literature. [5]
In films, books, cartoons, and toys, pirates often have a rough-and-ready appearance that evokes their criminal lifestyle, rogue personalities and adventurous, seafaring pursuits. They are usually greedy, mean-spirited, drunk on rum and focused largely on fighting and robbing enemy pirates and locating hidden treasure. They often wear shabby 17th or 18th century clothing, with a bandana or feathered tricorne. They are almost always armed with a cutlass and a flintlock pistol, or similar weaponry. They sometimes have scars and battle wounds, rotten or missing teeth (suggesting the effects of scurvy), as well as a hook or wooden stump where a hand or leg has been amputated and often an eye patch to conceal a lost eye. Some depictions of pirates also include monkeys or parrots as pets, the former mischievously assisting them in thieving and the latter loudly copying whatever the pirate captain says. The ship's captain will force captives and mutinous crewmen to walk the plank over shark-infested waters.
Historical pirates were often sailors or soldiers who had fallen into misfortune or were captured, forced into a life of crime. In various literature, the pirates may be represented as having fallen, perhaps resembling a "respectable" person in some way. [6] Pirate characters generally quest for buried treasure, plundered riches in treasure chests. Pirates' treasure is usually gold or silver, often in the form of doubloons or pieces of eight.
In the 1990s, International Talk Like a Pirate Day was invented as a parody holiday celebrated on September 19. This holiday allows people to "let out their inner pirate" and to dress and speak according to the pirate stereotype above. It has been gaining popularity through the Internet since its founders set up a website teaching "pirate speak."
Many games, movies, and other media are built upon the premise, introduced by Real Ultimate Power, that pirates buccaneers are sworn enemies of ninjas. The "Pirates versus Ninjas" meme is also expressed in house parties and merchandise at popular-culture clothing and gift stores.
Pirates also play a central role in the parody religion of Pastafarianism. Established in 2005, [7] Pastafarians (members of The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster) claim to believe that global warming is a result of the severe decrease in pirates since the 18th century, explaining the coldness associated with winter months that follow Halloween as a direct effect of the number of pirates that make their presence known in celebration.
The pirate archetype has been adapted to science fiction with more or less futuristic dress and speech.
In 1879, the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance was an instant hit in New York, and the original London production in 1880 ran for 363 performances. [16] The piece, depicting an incompetent band of "tenderhearted" British pirates, is still performed widely today, and obviously corresponds to historical knowledge about the emergence of piracy in the Caribbean.
While no pirates are ever on stage in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Hamlet claims that his ship to England was overtaken by pirates.
In 1904, J.M. Barrie's play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up was first performed. In the book, Peter's enemy in Neverland is the pirate crew led by Captain Hook. Details on Barrie's conception of Captain Hook are lacking, but it seems he was inspired by at least one historical privateer, and possibly by Robert Louis Stevenson's Long John Silver as well. [6] In film adaptations released in 1924, 1953, and 2003, Hook's dress, as well as the attire of his crew, corresponds to stereotypical notions of pirate appearance.
Because pirate ships connote fearsomeness, loyalty and teamwork, many professional and amateur sports teams use the nickname Pirates, as well as other nicknames or logos associated with cultural depictions of pirates, such as an eyepatch.
Teams:
Pro wrestler Paul Burchill from WWE Friday Night SmackDown dressed like a pirate and claimed that Blackbeard is his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. Previously, Carl Ouellet wrestled as Jean-Pierre Lafitte (supposedly a descendant of pirate Jean Lafitte).
William Kidd also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd, was a Scottish privateer. Conflicting accounts exist regarding his early life, but he was likely born in Dundee and later settled in New York City. By 1690, Kidd had become a highly successful privateer, commissioned to protect English interests in North America and the West Indies.
A pirate is a person who commits acts of piracy at sea without the authorization of any nation.
The era of piracy in the Caribbean began in the 1500s and phased out in the 1830s after the navies of the nations of Western Europe and North America with colonies in the Caribbean began combating pirates. The period during which pirates were most successful was from the 1660s to the 1730s. Piracy flourished in the Caribbean because of the existence of pirate seaports such as Port Royal in Jamaica, Tortuga in Haiti, and Nassau in the Bahamas. Piracy in the Caribbean was part of a larger historical phenomenon of piracy, as it existed close to major trade and exploration routes in almost all the five oceans.
Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, telling a story of "buccaneers and buried gold". It is considered a coming-of-age story and is noted for its atmosphere, characters, and action.
Long John Silver is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the novel Treasure Island (1883) by Robert Louis Stevenson. The most colourful and complex character in the book, he continues to appear in popular culture. His missing leg and parrot, in particular, have greatly contributed to the image of the pirate in popular culture.
Captain Hector Barbossa is a fictional character of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, appearing in all five films in the series. Starting out as a villainous undead skeleton in The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Barbossa dies at the end of the film. However, the character is revealed to have been resurrected and brought back from the dead by Tia Dalma by the end of Dead Man's Chest, and has since appeared in anti-heroic roles. Captain Hector Barbossa was one of the nine Pirate Lords in At World's End (2007), a privateer in service to King George II and the British Navy while also seeking revenge against Blackbeard in On Stranger Tides (2011), as well as a rich rogue and influential leader of a prosperous pirate empire and fleet in Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). Throughout the series, Barbossa has been conceptualized as a "dark trickster" and the evil counterpart of Captain Jack Sparrow.
Tortuga Island is a Caribbean island that forms part of Haiti, off the northwest coast of Hispaniola. It constitutes the commune of Île de la Tortue in the Port-de-Paix arrondissement of the Nord-Ouest department of Haiti.
Captain J. Flint is a fictional golden age pirate captain who features in a number of novels, television series, and films. The original character was created by the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894). Flint first appears in the classic adventure yarn Treasure Island, which was first serialised in a children's magazine in 1881, and later published as a novel in 1883.
"Dead Man's Chest" is a fictional sea song, originally from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island (1883). It was expanded in a poem, titled "Derelict" by Young E. Allison, published in the Louisville Courier-Journal in 1891. It has since been used in many later works of art in various forms.
The Black Spot is a literary device invented by Robert Louis Stevenson for his novel Treasure Island.
The Buccaneers was a 1956 Sapphire Films television drama series for ITC Entertainment, broadcast by CBS in the US and shown on ATV and regional ITV companies as they came on air during the infancy of ITV in the UK.
The Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation for the period between the 1650s and the 1730s, when maritime piracy was a significant factor in the histories of the North Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
On Stranger Tides is a 1987 historical fantasy supernatural novel by American writer Tim Powers. It was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and placed second in the annual Locus poll for best fantasy novel.
Roche Braziliano was a Dutch Brazilian pirate born in the town of Groningen. His pirate career lasted from 1654 until his disappearance around 1671. He was first made famous in Alexandre Exquemelin's 1678 book The Buccaneers of America; Exquemelin did not know Braziliano's real name, but historians have found he was probably born as Gerrit Gerritszoon and that he and his parents moved to Dutch-controlled Brazil. He is known as "Roche Braziliano", which in English translates to "Rock the Brazilian", due to his long exile in Brazil.
Pirates of the Caribbean is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with Walt Disney's theme park ride of the same name, which opened at Disneyland in 1967 and was one of the last Disneyland attractions overseen by Walt Disney. Disney based the ride on pirate legends, folklore and novels, such as those by Italian writer Emilio Salgari.
Olivier Levasseur, was a French pirate, nicknamed La Buse or La Bouche in his early days for the speed and ruthlessness with which he always attacked his enemies as well as his ability to verbally attack his opponents. He is known for allegedly hiding one of the biggest treasures in pirate history, estimated at over £1 billion, and leaving a cryptogram behind with clues to its whereabouts.
Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of the American colonies during the early 18th century. He captained the Queen Anne's Revenge, a 200-ton frigate originally named the Concord, and died in a fierce battle with troops from Virginia on November 22, 1718, at Ocracoke Island.
Franco, Ciccio e il pirata Barbanera is a 1969 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Amendola starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio. It is a parody of the 1883 adventure novel Treasure Island of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson.
Sir Henry Morgan was a Welsh pirate, privateer and buccaneer. He made himself famous during activities in the Caribbean, primarily raiding Spanish settlements. He earned a reputation as one of the most notorious and successful privateers in history, and one of the most ruthless among those active along the Spanish Main.