Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside Narrative)

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The manuscript of Billy Budd was left incomplete when Melville died in 1891, lending prescience to the declaration (from Moby-Dick, chapter 25) that "if, at my death, my executors, or more properly my creditors, find any precious MSS. in my desk, then here I prospectively ascribe all the honor and the glory to whaling."

But aside from Melville's first-hand experience at sea, Billy Budd's glory also derives from the Somers mutiny of 1842 and eighteenth-century British naval law. The novella's subtitle--"an inside narrative"--obliquely links it to his cousin Gansevoort, who had been aboard the U.S. Brig Somers when the mutiny occurred. (Another interpretation links it to Melville's father-in-law, chief justice Lemuel Shaw, for his role in enforcing the notorious Fugitive Slave Act.)

The story is retrospectively set in 1797, amid a rising tide of mutinies and worldwide revolutionary movements. Enter Billy Budd, "the handsome sailor"--Melville's presumptive answer to the dandy--whose moral innocence portends an equally subversive counter-revolution.

Billy Budd is a classic in the fields of law and literature. In the words of Robert L. Gale: "The rich, imagistic, and allusive style of Billy Budd has intrigued readers, but it is the psychological nature of the three principle characters that has challenged the critics. In what ways is Billy Budd a Christ figure? What does his stammer symbolize? To what degree is Captain Vere an admirable naval officer and father figure? What is his motivation? Is Claggart an unmitigated Satan? Is Billy Budd to be read as Melville's testament of faith or as an ironic document concerning fallen humanity?"

Note: This meetup will be recorded for private use.

Billy Budd:

Supplemental:

This meetup is part of the series Fig Leaves and Fancy Pants.

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