Billy Budd, Foretopman (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)

At a glance:

  • Author: Herman Melville
  • First Published: 1924
  • Type of Work: Novel
  • Type of Plot: Symbolic realism
  • Time of Work: 1797
  • Genres: Long fiction
  • Subjects: Eighteenth century
  • Locales: Oceans

Places Discussed

HMS Bellipotent. Seventy-four-gun warship onto which seaman Billy Budd is impressed to serve in the British Navy. In earlier versions of the story, this ship is called the Indomitable. Both names suggest power as a means of preserving order. The ship, one of many in Britain’s Mediterranean fleet, represents the authority of the state and also serves as the guardian of the state’s citizens’ welfare. At the same time it is a microcosm of the society it is designed to protect. It consists of a variety of social types and a range of social...

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