A Study of the Influence of Pirate Spirit on British Marine Literature from Captain Singleton

Abstract

Captain Singleton is a famous work published by British novelist Daniel Defoe in 1720. To some extent, it records the British pirate culture in realistic literary works for the first time. Therefore, Captain Singleton deeply reflects the important role of pirate spirit in the British marine literature in that historical background. At the same time, under the influence of this novel, pirate spirit gradually gets its real boom in Britain, and has a profound impact on the thought and theme of the subsequent marine literary works. In this paper, the analysis of pirate spirit will combine with the historical background of the formation and prosperity of British pirates in the 18th century, in order to study the causes and connotation of pirate spirit, as well as the influence of this ideology from historical, spiritual and cultural views.