Mr Midshipman Easy

First edition title page

Mr. Midshipman Easy is an 1836 novel by Frederick Marryat, a retired Captain in the 19th century Royal Navy. The novel is set during the Napoleonic Wars, in which Marryat himself served with distinction.

Plot 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". As he is a rich man, his belief, which the novel presents as very foolish, is never seriously contradicted.

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. There are two very satiric short chapters.

Easy joins the navy, becomes friendly with a lower deck seaman named Mesty, an escaped slave, who had been a prince in Africa. Mesty is sympathetic to Easy's philosophizing. Even though Marryat tries to render Mesty's speech in dialect, he portrays him sympathetically, allowing him dignity.

Easy becomes a competent officer, in spite of his notions. By the end of the novel both Easy and Mesty have come to a more conventional view of rights, and private property.

Adaptation

It was adapted twice into films in 1916 and in 1935 as Midshipman Easy, directed by Carol Reed.

External links

• Mr Midshipman Easy at Internet Archive (scanned books original editions color illustrated)
• Mr Midshipman Easy at Project Gutenberg (plain text and HTML)
• Mr Midshipman Easy via LibriVox (audiobooks)