The Phantom Ship (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Frederick Marryat
- First Published: 1837
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Fantasy—occult
- Time of Work: The seventeenth century
- Setting: Holland, Goa, and the seas between
- Genres: Long fiction, Fantasy, Magical and occult fantasy
- Subjects: Parents and children, Ghosts or apparitions, Fathers, Seventeenth century, Sea or seafaring life, Shipwrecks, Netherlands or Dutch people, Relics or sacred objects, Inquisition
- Locales: Oceans, Holland
The Plot
The Phantom Ship is the most extensive English handling of the legend of the Flying Dutchman (widely known through Richard Wagner’s 1843 operatic version The Flying Dutchman). Philip Vanderdecken’s dying mother tells him of the curse upon his father, for whom he is named. En route to India, Captain Vanderdecken swore that he would round the Cape of Good Hope if it took him until Judgment Day. As a result, he and his crew are cursed to sail the seas in nautical limbo until then. The only way to break the spell is for a family member to present him with...
[The entire page is 997 words long]
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