
Mr. Midshipman Easy
'Mr. Midshipman Easy' Summary
Easy is the son of foolish parents, who spoiled him. His father, in particular, regards himself as a philosopher, with a firm belief in the "rights of man, equality, and all that; how every person was born to inherit his share of the earth, a right at present only admitted to a certain length that is, about six feet, for we all inherit our graves, and are allowed to take possession without dispute. But no one would listen to Mr Easy's philosophy. The women would not acknowledge the rights of men, whom they declared always to be in the wrong; and, as the gentlemen who visited Mr Easy were all men of property, they could not perceive the advantages of sharing with those who had none. However, they allowed him to discuss the question, while they discussed his port wine. The wine was good, if the arguments were not, and we must take things as we find them in this world."
By the time he is a teenager Easy has adopted his father's point of view, to the point where he no longer believes in private property.
Easy joins the navy, which his father believes to be the best example of an equal society, and Easy becomes friendly with a lower deck seaman named Mesty (Mephistopheles Faust), an escaped slave, who had been a prince in Africa. Mesty is sympathetic to Easy's philosophizing, which seems to offer him a way up from his lowly job of "boiling kettle for de young gentlemen"; but once Mesty is promoted to ship's corporal and put in charge of discipline, he changes his mind: "...now I tink a good deal lately, and by all de power, I tink equality all stuff." "All stuff, Mesty, why? you used to think otherwise." "Yes, Massa Easy, but den I boil de kettle for all young gentleman. Now dat I ship's corporal and hab cane, I tink so no longer."
In some way Mesty is the real hero of the novel, as he pulls Easy out of several scrapes the impulsive 17-year-old gets himself into as he cruises the Mediterranean on several British ships.
Easy becomes a competent officer, in spite of his notions. Easy's mother dies, and he returns home to find his father is completely mad. Easy senior has developed an apparatus for reducing or enlarging phrenological bumps on the skull, but as he attempts to reduce his own benevolence bump, the machine kills him. Easy throws out the criminal servants his father has employed and puts the estate to rights, demanding back rents from the tenants, and evicting those who will not pay. Using his new-found wealth, he formally quits the navy, rigs out his own privateering vessel, and returns to Sicily to claim his bride Agnes. As he is a wealthy gentleman now, no longer a junior midshipman, her family cannot refuse him, and he and Agnes live happily ever after.
Book Details
Authors

Frederick Marryat
United Kingdom
Captain Frederick Marryat was a Royal Navy officer, a novelist, and an acquaintance of Charles Dickens. He is noted today as an early pioneer of nautical fiction, particularly for his semi-autobiograp...
Books by Frederick MarryatDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

De Oñate a La Granja by Benito Pérez Galdós
De Oñate a La Granja is a historical novel by Benito Pérez Galdós, first published in 1888. It is the third novel in the third series of his Episodios...

The Grandfathers' War by Murray Leinster
In a time-bending tale that defies the boundaries of space and generations, "The Grandfathers' War" by Murray Leinster immerses readers in a thrilling...

Atlàntida by Jacint Verdaguer i Santaló
L'Atlàntida, an epic poem by Jacint Verdaguer i Santaló, is considered a pivotal work in the revival of Catalan literature. The poem follows the journ...

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Mrs Dalloway is a novel by Virginia Woolf, published on 14 May 1925, that details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a fictional upper-class woma...

Devil's Paw by E. Phillips Oppenheim
In the midst of a dangerous wartime landscape, a pivotal clandestine gathering unfolds on a desolate beach, shrouded in secrecy and shadowed by the sp...

A Rambler's Lease by Bradford Torrey
In the embrace of the wild, where the whispers of nature weave a timeless tale, "A Rambler's Lease" beckons. Bradford Torrey's literary sojourn is an...

The Forty-Five Guardsmen by Alexandre Dumas
It tells the story of Diane de Méridor's quest for revenge upon the Duke of Anjou – for his betrayal of Bussy d’Amboise. The novel features Forty-five...

The Defenders by Philip K. Dick
"The Defenders" is a 1953 science fiction novelette by American author Philip K. Dick, and the basis for Dick's 1964 novel The Penultimate Truth. It i...

Blind Love by Wilkie Collins
Embark on a captivating journey into the depths of human emotion and the perils of misplaced affection with Wilkie Collins's enthralling novel, "Blind...

Splendid Outcast by George Gibbs
Splendid Outcast is a gripping war novel that delves into the complexities of identity, deception, and courage. The story centers around Jim Horton, a...
Reviews for Mr. Midshipman Easy
No reviews posted or approved, yet...