Successful Pirates and Capitalist Fantasies: Charting Fictional Representations of Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth -Century English Fortune Hunters
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 2000 Successful Pirates and Capitalist Fantasies: Charting Fictional Representations of Eighteenth- And Early Nineteenth -Century English Fortune Hunters. Robert Gordon Dryden Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Dryden, Robert Gordon, "Successful Pirates and Capitalist Fantasies: Charting Fictional Representations of Eighteenth- And Early Nineteenth -Century English Fortune Hunters." (2000). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 7191. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/7191 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. 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SUCCESSFUL PIRATES AND CAPITALIST FANTASIES: CHARTING FICTIONAL REPRESENTATIONS OF EIGHTEENTH- AND EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH FORTUNE HUNTERS A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment o f the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department o f English by Robert G. Dryden B.A., Hampshire College, 1986 M.A., University o f New Orleans, 1994 May 2000 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number 9979255 UMI___ ______ (f t UMI Microform9979255 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgments I would like to thank the Louisiana State University Graduate School for awarding me the $10,000 dissertation fellowship and tuition waver that enabled me to complete the majority of work on my project. As anyone who has ever completed a dissertation knows, time for research and writing is the most valuable commodity. My thanks also go out to the inter-library loan staff of LSU's Middleton Library. 1 could not have completed my project without then' diligent and generous assistance. Thank you as well to the librarians at the Newberry Library in Chicago, Illinois, where I was able to locate several important resources. Jim Springer Borck was a wonderful mentor for me on this project. Jim is without a doubt the most generous and thoughtful professor I have known. Our early discussions and debates about pirates helped me conceive my thesis, and his thoughtful readings of my chapters became invaluable in helping me to organize and conceptualize the project. Jim’s uncommon generosity is daily exemplified by the amount of time he spends with his students. He never once wavered in his support of my project, and he continually bolstered my confidence and faith in my abilities. I am also indebted to professor Elsie Michie, with whom I have worked on various papers and projects since my first days at LSU. Elsie was particularly generous with her time during the early stages of my project; she bravely read through and commented in detail on my raw early drafts, material that I would even dread to look at ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. now. As a consistently supportive mentor, Elsie helped me to maintain confidence in my project and my abilities as a scholar. Professor Keith Sandiford was helpful in ways that he probably doesn’t realize, for it was in his eighteenth-century seminar on the travel narrative that I began to discover my interest in eighteenth-century studies, and to cultivate tny ideas for this project. These sentiments also go out to Pat McGee, whose literary theory seminar sparked many of the ideas that are embedded in my chapters. I have a great deal of respect for Pat’s commitment to teaching literary theory, and I am grateful for his guidance. John Waters’s thoughtful comments on an early draft of my Introduction assisted me in synthesizing my chapters. As well, John’s insightful comments on my final draft will help me to revise my project for future publications. I also owe many thanks to my professors at the University o f New Orleans, who taught me well during my master’s work. Kris Lackey, Dan Doll, and Malcolm Magaw ignited the passion and drive in me to pursue doctoral studies. I would never have reached this point without their generous guidance and support. My deepest gratitude goes out to Mimi Bhattacharyya. Without her love, support, wisdom, and patience, this undertaking would have been a much more lonely experience, twice as difficult, and a hell o f a lot less fun. Mimi’s sharp and insightful comments, and her intolerance for carelessness, consistently kept me honest and on track. Our discussions, and her generous edits o f several chapters o f my work, also helped shape the project during the crucial latter stages. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Finally, I am dedicating my dissertation to my late father, William Gordon Dryden, who always regretted that he did not have the opportunity to earn his doctorate. His support o f my ambition to teach literature means more to me than I can say. I miss him dearly and know that he would be proud of me today. I am equally grateful to my mother, Barbara Dryden, my brother, Edward Dryden, and my sister, Cheryl Dryden. for all their love and support of me during these many years of academic struggle and accomplishment. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Acknowledgments......................................................................................................... ii Abstract...........................................................................................................................vi Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 Business as Usual; or, Instructing the Pirate King of Madagascar ..........................................................................35 Chapter 3 Daniel Defoe’s Pirate Economy; or, The Invention of Buried Treasure ........................................................................92 Chapter 4 John Gay’s Polly: Unmasking Pirates and Fortune Hunters in the West Indies ................................................................... 128 Chapter 5 Jane Austen’s Successful Pirates: Domestic Tranquility and Colonial Authority in Mansfield Park and Persuasion .... 166 Chapter 6 Summary and Conclusions ......................................................... 210 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................220 Appendix A: Indentured Servants ...................................................................................233 Appendix B: West Indian Buccaneers ............................................................................235 Appendix C: West Indian Maroons ................................................................................ 239 Appendix D: Pirates of Color ..........................................................................................244 V ita................................................................................................................................. 247 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract Successful