"Cliff Notes - Billy Budd" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

and the French revolutionaries toppled the monarchy and plunged that
country into a period of turmoil that ended only when Napoleon took
over as emperor. Napoleon promptly engaged in a series of protracted
wars with the major monarchies of Europe: Great Britain, Austria,
Prussia, and Russia. The Napoleonic Wars dragged on from 1796 to
1815 and changed the political map of Europe.

The action of Billy Budd unfolds against the backdrop of the
Napoleonic Wars. And the war enters into the story in several ways.
Britain was so desperate for sailors to man her large fleet at this
time that it became legal for naval officers to board private ships
and commandeer whatever men they wanted into the British Navy. This
practice was known as impressment. Billy is impressed off the
merchant ship The Rights of Man onto the man-of-war Bellipotent at
the start of the book. It's also hinted that Claggart is impressed
into naval service from a British prison.

Even more important to the atmosphere and action of Billy Budd are
the two mutinies that occurred in the British Navy just months prior
to the story. Though the mutinies were suppressed, you can easily
imagine the fear they caused throughout Britain. Many people were
terrified that the mutinies would be the first sparks of a
revolution. On board the Bellipotent, you can feel this fear vividly.
The word mutiny alone is like a curse that no one--except Claggart--
dares to utter, though you know that everyone has it on his mind.
New legislation was passed in Britain to allow naval officers to
deal swiftly and brutally with any new mutinous outbreak. These laws
and this atmosphere of tension work against Billy when Claggart
decides to go after him.


BILLY BUDD: THEMES

Readers have interpreted the major themes of Billy Budd in a wide
variety of ways, some of which seem contradictory. No one reading is,
or ever can be, definitive; no one theme can sum up the book: Your
analysis will be influenced by your personality, your feelings about
the characters, and your own sense of justice. You may even want to
focus on contradictory meanings as one of the book's themes. So long
as you can find support for your ideas in the text, your
interpretation is valid.

Here are some of the major themes of Billy Budd:

1. A DRAMA OF INNOCENCE AND EVIL

Billy is closely associated with Adam before the Fall and with
Christ; Claggart is like the serpent Satan who wormed his way into
Eden and tricked mankind out of a state of purity, innocence, and
happiness. Billy Budd reenacts this age-old conflict between good