Treasure Island: Freedom and Order in a New Romance of Piracy

Abstract

Abstract: Treasure Island has been studied in both liberal and conservative lights. Such a disparity might be reconciled from the perspective of its genre. By consciously exploring the double inclinations toward freedom and order within the literary tactics of “romance”, Stevenson integrates the existing social order with the rebellious social vitality in the imagination of his novel. What he portrays in the novel is a new type of pirates, who, beneath their usual ferocious and devious appearance, are actually playful, boyish, orderly, and anxious to become real gentlemen. He even draws their certain connection with the national tradition of England. Jim, the protagonist in the novel who serves as a constant link between the pirates and the gentlemen, is able to respect the gentlemen’s order and absorb the vigor from the pirates as well. Eventually, he turns into a symbolic figure of both and a figure who could cope with a rapidly changing world. In addition, given the portrayal of complicated characters, along with the ambiguous and uneasy ending, the novel seems to have broken up the long-standing tradition of “romance” and taken on some modern characteristics.

Key words: Treasure Island, romance, piracy, playfulness, order, modernity

Guan Nanyi. Treasure Island: Freedom and Order in a New Romance of Piracy[J]. Foreign Literature Studies, 2019, 41(5): 112-122.

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