The Buccaneers

The novel repeatedly situates personal stories within a broader portrayal of institutional decay, highlighting the British aristocracy’s liquidity crises during the period in which The Buccaneers is set. The upkeep of these characters’ grand estates requires extensive maintenance, staffing, and attention, and the often shabby interiors of their large houses suggest that the titled British families no longer have the means to maintain their holdings adequately. When the novel opens, the agricultural base that supported the aristocracy has weakened relative to industrial and financial activities, particularly in the context of the Industrial Revolution and the spread of British colonial ventures. Many peers are therefore land-rich and cash-poor and frequently resort to selling off their heirlooms and reducing their staff. The novel hints that because families must choose which children see the dentist and which paintings can be sold, the day-to-day life of the aristocracy has become a constant negotiation for cash. This situation renders titled households receptive to the potential influx of American money via advantageous marriages, but it also produces resentment in those who see such compromises as existential threats to their identity.

The marriages that import American wealth into British families are designed to stabilize this financial precarity. Titles and access are exchanged for dowries and allowances, but the arrangement becomes disruptive because it involves persons and not assets alone. As the events of the novel illustrate, the American women do not always accept the established social assumptions that govern their new families. Some decline to prioritize lineage, as when Nan refuses to accept her husband’s view that her body is a resource for succession. Notably, the language used by Ushant and other British characters to describe the newcomers registers this disruption. For example, Sir Helmsley calls them “American pirates” (404) when he learns that his son will likely be named co-respondent in a ducal divorce. He also lumps together “Italian banditti” and “American pirates” (404), which reveals his own prejudices rather than putting forth a viable argument.

The use of the synonym “buccaneers” in this context is often intended to identify a set of perceived incursions rather than happy marriages. Ushant formulates the crisis in proprietary terms when he decides that Nan’s failure to produce an heir is actually a case of theft. Thus, the disgruntled British aristocrats name these disruptive forces as criminal, and the recurring images of theft and piracy mark an elite that views change as a form of violence, even when the change occurs in a legal manner. Ultimately, these pragmatic marriages do not simply plug financial holes; they alter expectations about speech, obedience, and the conditions under which a woman may claim a life.

The novel also shows disruptions that originate from within the British system. Because the legal regime governing marriage and divorce is patriarchal, solicitors tell their aristocratic clients the truth about who holds power. In practice, a duke is more likely to get a decree than a commoner, while a husband has easier access to remedies than a wife ever will. This disparity motivates resistance within the professional class, as seen when Anthony acts on his lingering resentment over watching his own divorced sister being trapped and stigmatized. When Guy consults him, he advises secrecy, careful timing, and the avoidance of any actions that could be construed as collusion. He also takes satisfaction in aiding a case that exposes the inequity of prevailing rules. The novel therefore registers a convergence of pressures. Economic change introduces new money and new motives, while trans-Atlantic marriages bring different expectations about freedom and speech. The cumulative effect is to unsettle the aristocracy as a social form, and although the novel does not predict an outcome, it does emphasize that developments like Nan’s departure and Guy’s relocation are part of a wider disruption.