The Buccaneers

“He laid a hand on his wife’s graying blond hair, and brushed her care-worn forehead with the tip of his moustache—a ritual gesture which convinced him that he had kissed her, and Mrs. St. George that she had been kissed. She looked up at him with admiring eyes.”

The “ritual gesture” (21) between husband and wife is a feigned kiss that alludes to affection and is mutually understood. The Colonel’s lips may never have touched his wife’s head, but she understands that the gesture is a sign of affection even if the action itself remains complete. This quirk of their marriage reflects the physical distance that exists between them, implying that this distance was built on a foundation of deep understanding.

“‘Lady Brittlesey?’ (It was thus that Miss Testvalley had pronounced the name.)”

Because she is from Britain, Miss Testvalley has a natural understanding of the pronunciation of British names like Brightlingsea, and her subtle correction hints at the gap between the British and American cultures. Mrs. St. George pronounces the name phonetically, and although Miss Testvalley does not judge this attempt, she cannot help but correct it, and the exchange alludes to the ironic aphorism that Britain and America are two cultures separated by a common language.

“Everybody’s in a hurry in America.”

As Lord Richard frets about his upcoming marriage, he essentially passes summary judgment on an entire culture, highlighting the differences between his homeland and the United States. While his complaint about American impatience may have merit, his comment actually hints at his own discomfort with the pace of current events, and he masks his deeper anxiety with small talk.

“But they were all aware that by this time she was less necessary to her pupils than to their mother.”

Although Miss Testvalley is hired to prepare the two St. George sisters for society, it is Mrs. St. George who comes to rely on Miss Testvalley the most. For the older woman, Miss Testvalley is a codex for understanding the subtleties of English high society. Whereas the daughters are young enough to adjust to their new surroundings, Mrs. St. George clings to Miss Testvalley as a means of support. As this quote suggests, everyone recognizes the dynamics at work, but they love and respect Mrs. St. George too much to criticize her on this point.

“Seadown marry an American? There won’t be a family left in England without that poison in their veins.”

With this virulent comment, Sir Helmsley makes no effort to hide his distaste for the idea that the presence of Americans irreparably taints the British aristocracy. Ironically, this explicit reference to the Americans as “poison” contrasts with his polite, affectionate attitude toward the individual Americans he meets. Because he proves to be full of praise for Nan and Virginia, the novel suggests that his distaste is based on the idea of intermarriage between the two cultures, rather than a judgment on Americans themselves. The poison that he laments is the dilution of the aristocracy through marriage, and it is clear that his emotional investment in the nobility as a concept remains deeply entrenched in his worldview.

“A young man that all the women are mad about, but who’s too poor to marry.”

Guy Thwarte is regarded as a detrimental, meaning that he is locked out of many potential marriages because his family is too poor. This labelling shows the extent to which marriage in the British aristocracy is concerned with a complex calculus of social and financial forces that have nothing to do with ideals such as love or romance. As the novel’s events prove, money, status, and scandal hold more sway over most marriages than affection ever can, and for this reason, an eminent bachelor like Guy is considered unmarriable among the British elite.

“‘Even then. Divorce,’ Miss Testvalley explained, ‘is intended to punish her, not to make her life pleasanter.’”

In her role as governess, Miss Testvalley explains to her young pupils the reality of misogyny in the society they inhabit, clarifying that it is intended to punish women who strive for independence. As explored later in the novel, the courts are biased toward men, and especially toward wealthy, aristocratic men. The social exclusion that haunts divorced women is another way in which patriarchal societies police female behavior—essentially forcing obedience by controlling a woman’s access to the social elite.

“He must marry, have children, play the great part assigned to him.”

Ushant is one of Britain’s foremost nobles and enjoys the wealth, power, and status that come with his position, but he nonetheless feels this privilege as a burden and is keenly aware of his responsibility to marry and perpetuate his line—even though he is more interested in clocks than in women. As a result, he does not see marriage as a romantic endeavor, and he will never understand why Nan is more interested in romance than duty. He therefore becomes angry when she does not fulfill the traditional role that comes with her title.

“The children always had to draw lots for the annual visit to the dentist, as it was too expensive to take more than one a year.”

Lady Gwendolen is part of the British aristocracy but does not hold the level of wealth that this position connotes. The Americans in the novel might not have titles or extensive family histories, but they do have ready cash to handle life’s more expensive necessities. By contrast, Lady Gwendolen is an aristocrat who can no longer afford to live like one.

“Their guests cannot grasp the meaning of such institutions or understand the hundreds of minute observances forming the texture of an old society.”

In a private letter to his son, Sir Helmsley jokes that the Americans lack a thorough understanding of the etiquette of British high society, and he clearly laments the fact that the expectations and manners that come naturally to British aristocrats remain alien to the Americans. Even so, he does have the good grace to perceive the absurdity of certain elements of British society, even if he remains one of its staunchest defenders against the supposed invasion of Americans.

“Who is Annabel Tintagel.”

Nan marries the Duke but loses her sense of identity as she struggles to uphold the expectations that come with her title. Because her name changes with her marriage, she is left to navigate the treacherous twists and turns of a quiet but intense identity crisis. The idea of being Annabel Tintagel rather than Nan St. George causes a rift in her sense of self, and this issue becomes even more pronounced when she is forced to think of herself as a Duchess. This question of identity compels Nan to conclude that she has made a mistake in marrying Ushant.

“One of the drawing-room clocks stood there before him, disemboweled.”

Ushant has always been more at home around clocks than people. Upon struggling to understand his wife, he takes refuge in purely mechanical pursuits, seeking to discover why a clock is not keeping perfect time. This activity takes on a level of ironic symbolism given that he cannot simply give his wife the same treatment. The connection is further enforced when he comes to see the clock as a person and personifies it by using words such as “disembowel” (211). It is telling that his response to his marital crisis is to tinker with mechanical workings, for he clearly wishes that humans were as rational or as mechanical as his clocks.

“There is no satisfaction in owning a fragment.”

The Duke treats his art collection as he treats his wife: Like the Naxos, she is his property. However, also like the Naxos, Nan does not satisfy him because he is not convinced that he owns her completely. In reality, Nan does not want to be owned, nor does Ushant possess the empathy to understand her true motivations in life. To him, his wife is merely an incomplete, vexing fragment of an imaginary whole, and he cannot recognize that the tension in his marriage may arise from his decision to treat Nan as a possession rather than an equal partner and loved one.

“She must give her husband at least two sons, and if in fulfillment of this duty a dozen daughters came uninvited, must receive them with suitably maternal sentiments, and see that they were properly clothed and educated.”

The misogynistic nature of British elite society is evident in the Duke’s belief that his wife only exists to produce future heirs. Nan’s duty, he believes, is to give him sons, and in this context, daughters are nothing more than inconveniences that must be tolerated until they can be married off to produce heirs for yet another man. The prevalence of misogyny among the British aristocracy can be seen in the way that Ushant and his mother take this position as self-evident.

“These awful English marriages, that strangle you in a noose when you try to pull away from them.” If only Conchita had not put that into words!”

Nan is horrified by Conchita’s description of “these awful English marriages” because she sees so much of her own truth in the statement. Nan has always felt uneasy in her own marriage, but Conchita’s words make her uneasiness explicit, and now that this visceral image has invaded her thoughts, she can no longer pretend that she does not feel the same way.

“Was it because all the great people secretly felt as Ushant did—oppressed, weighed down under a dead burden of pomp and precedent —that they built these gigantic palaces to give themselves the illusion of being giants?”

Now that Nan is coming to terms with the unhappiness of her marriage, she begins to rethink her understanding of British society, questioning the true reason for the existence of such lavish, grandiose castles and stately homes. Although these edifices seemed so strange and alluring to her American sensibilities, she now sees them as a manifestation of the deep rot at the heart of the British aristocracy. At the moment, Nan cannot escape this rot, for she herself lives inside one of the houses and is trapped by the “pomp and precedent” of her own marriage.

“She approved, thinking of the many occasions when a gift of five hundred pounds from the late Duke would have eased her daily load of maternal anxieties.”

For a brief moment, the narration exhibits the thoughts of the Dowager-Duchess, who envies her daughter-in-law despite her constant criticism of Nan’s actions. In this moment, she wishes that she might have been able to ask her late husband for money. Yet her moment for such actions is long past, and she now feels that Nan must be made to endure the same anxieties and burdens that caused her so much pain as a younger woman. The Dowager-Duchess has internalized the misogyny of British society and believes that other women should now suffer just as she once did.

“[God] had punished her by killing her unborn child.”

Nan is not an overtly religious person, but she does take the existence of God as a given fact. Her lack of religion may be explained by the way in which she treats her miscarriage as a punishment from God. She believes that like Ushant, God is punishing her for having the temerity to fail to produce an heir, and it is clear that in her mind, God embodies the same ideals and beliefs as her patriarchal husband.

“There were times when this American girl left him breathless, and even a little frightened.”

Hector Robinson marries Lizzy, an American woman, and of all the young British aristocrats that appear in the novel, he is uniquely happy with the match. Significantly, he respects her opinion and is even “a little frightened” of her capabilities. Whereas other British men treat their American wives merely as sources of funds, he treats Lizzy as an equal partner in their marriage, and they are both happier for it.

“You know the Duchess of Tintagel, who’s one of them, squeezed eight hundred pounds out of the wretched Duke.”

With this cruel and deliberately overexaggerated public statement, Lady Churt spreads malicious gossip about Nan in front of royalty, even though she gets fundamental aspects of the accusation wrong. Not only is she incorrect about why Nan took money from her husband, but she is also wrong about the amount. The extent to which she has inflated the sum shows that she is not reliable as a source of social gossip. However, although she is clearly trying to embarrass Nan, her words are treated as the truth by those in attendance. In the world of the British aristocracy, the truth does not matter as much as the implication does.

“Now he saw that jealousy was uncalled for. It was a case of theft.”

Ushant rationalizes his anger by dehumanizing his wife and dismissing her very real distress over their failed marriage. In his eyes, she is not a full-fledged person and therefore has no right to feel emotionally unsatisfied by their marriage. By categorizing her as a thief who is stealing his future heir away from him, he conveniently absolves himself of any responsibility for the current state of affairs. Notably, he cannot bring himself to be jealous of her interest in another man because he never really cared for her to begin with.

“We’re all at the mercy of our lady’s-maids.”

Lizzy’s wry comment provides a level of insight that changes Nan’s perspective of society. While the aristocratic women may have wealth and status, they still rely on their working-class maids to make their lives function. Nane realizes that her status and privilege is made possible by the hard work of others, and the scene shows that Lizzy’s intelligence and empathy distinguish her from many of her peers.

“It’s monstrous poetically; but everything I care about in Honourslove is in you too.”

Guy is a more suitable partner for Nan than Ushant ever could be, as shown by his aside about the poetics of his declaration of love. Ushant never particularly cared for poetry or art, much less love. Guy, in declaring his love for Nan, cannot help but acknowledge the frivolity and monstrosity of his poetic statement, and the scene demonstrates that he and Nan are far more aligned in their interests than Nan and Ushant ever were.