This essay shall examine the statement that the conventional image of the maritime outlaw is predicated completely on myth, focusing on the stereotypes created by famous literary writers, and comparing these stereotypes with the pirates that actuall

noting that real pirates were in fact popular celebrities, with their antics regularly being broadcasted in newspapers and magazines. To readers, ones class heavily influenced their view on these ‘figures of fame’. To those of the Middle and Upper classes it would be necessary to denounce these ‘villains’ and be fearful of their way of life. However, to those of a poorer background it would generate an insight into a vastly different way of life. This way of life offered people a chance at freedom due to the lawless nature of piracy and the ability to live entirely under your own rule. Unfortunately, due to this revered nature of piracy, it has caused particular difficulty for historians, in that there are numerous fictitious works compiled with ‘real accounts’ of piracy, thus it is hard to differentiate between the two. As a result, one must thus question the reliability of the sources under study, ad must realise that mot will in fact be biased in one way or another. This will make concluding this particular thesis a difficulty.        The orthodox image of a maritime pirate is better assessed when split into two sections. The first is the physical appearance of a pirate, and the second is in relation to the wider themes associated with piracy. The appearance of a pirate includes many strange and wonderful ideas, such as a wooden leg, an eye patch, a parrot on the shoulder and a hook with a cutlass in the other hand. Secondly, there have been vast numbers of themes associated with pirates, such as the belief that they all male, prostitution was rife, the fact pirates looted and then hid their treasure, the belief that many pirate ships held slaves, and even the mannerisms of pirates is worth analysis. Consideration needs to be given to prominent figures in history, and fictional characters to assess how these stereotypical features exist. Daniel Defoe in his book ‘A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates’, under his alias, ‘Captain Charles Johnson’, presents the character of ‘Edward Teach’, more famously know as ‘Blackbeard’. Teach was in fact a famous real life pirate, and was responsible for various piratical activities, such as the blockade of Charles Town in South Carolina, in which he took countless hostages from ships coming out of port, and after demanding gold for their release, he generated almost £2000 and let the captives and ships back to port.  Daniel Defoe raises particular stereotypes, such as looting and raiding in order to generate wealth and revenue. This theme is supported by Anne Perotin-Dumon, who claims that raids on coastal towns were commonplace in Atlantic and Pacific pirating.        Stemming from Daniel Defoe’s ideas came the well know literary works, such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Treasure island’, and James Matthew Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’, such great prominence in literature for generations to come. It was the latter that used the image of a hook to cement the fearful nature of ‘Captain Hook’, nemesis of the hero in his popular children’s novel. Treasure Island was also responsible for creating a popular pirate stereotype of ‘walking the plank’, and as Pennell argues, despite Treasure Island being a fictional novel, walking the plank did in fact occur on occasion. Daniel Defoe’s brilliance can be attributed to the fact he made such a prominent figure in literature from what is often described as a ‘mediocre’ pirate. Although he has also been described by his creator as a courageous man who might have been a hero had he been employed in a good cause. Another work of Daniel Defoe’s, Robinson Crusoe, speaks of the stereotype of slavery in which he speaks of how in a life of piracy ones circumstances can change from “a merchant to a miserable slave” in an instant. It is amusing that to believe that eye patches, wooden legs and hooks would be commonly seen in the age of piracy, although there is hardly any evidence in support of the claims. It is almost certain that in rare circumstances that accidents did occur and appendages were replaced. As aforementioned, Treasure Island is one of the more widely read sources on pirates, however, the notion of burying ones loot once it has been captured, along with the added connotations such as ‘X marks the spot’ and ‘treasure maps’ are a work of myth. However, Captain Kidd is one of the few pirates to have actually buried treasure, despite the fact it only remained buried for less than a week. Furthermore, Captain Kidd proves the stereotype of raiding and looting vessels, and was widely feared and renowned as being one of the main buccaneers in the Caribbean.        The notion that all pirates were male was so widely held that in almost all stories and fictional works about pirates women are rarely seen on ships, mainly as a result of the idea that it is “bad luck to have a woman on board”, as displayed even recently in films such as Pirates of the Caribbean. However, in reality this was not the case, as displayed by Marcus Rediker, who gives evidence to display that women went to sea as passengers, wives and occasionally as pirates themselves. Furthermore, the women that were pirates are often argued as displaying a tendency to avoid combat, and female pirate Anne Bonny proves this rule. Furthermore, the idea of the wench as being part of popular pirate culture does actually have an element of truth to it.        The problem with the interpretation of pirates is that when re-enactments of pirates occur in the form of motion picture and theatre it involves sounding like a pirate. The mannerisms of a pirate have thus far been interpreted in the English language to derive from a west-country accent. This probably originated due to the accent of the Pirates of Penzance. This is of course ridiculous as not all pirates could have a west-country accent. Captain Kid also breaks the ideal of romanticism in that it was probably one of the more inflated ideas since very few pirates got away with their crimes. Even a widely revered and famous pirate as Captain Kid was found guilty of piracy in 1701 and was sentenced to death. This proves the stereotype that the idea that the ability to be a carefree pirate is wrong. Furthermore, it is worth noting that the literature associated with pirates has often felt the need to make these pirates ‘heroes’. Although this idea was started by Defoe, it has continued in popular culture to highlight these original stereotypes even further, and thus it is now very hard to see the true pirate inside these false illusions that now exist in modern literature.        Conclusively, this essay has analysed in-depth the main stereotypes of what it is to be a pirate, and has demonstrated that the conventional image of a maritime outlaw is most definitely a myth. This essay has done this by first stating all the stereotypes before analysing each aspect in detail, and proving or disproving the statements. Furthermore, the essay has studied various fictional literatures to display the stereotypical pirate and compared this with academic sources to reinforce its argument and display the contrasts between the fictional pirate and the maritime outlaw. Whilst the essay has shown that there is some historical truth behind most images, they are merely an over-amplified assortment of isolated instances and should thus not be seen as common place, which is the case in the aforementioned literature.