The Tragedy of Nobility in Herman Melville’s Billy Budd
Eric Shapriro - Government Paper - Spring 2012
The Tragedy of Nobility in Herman Melville’s Billy Budd
When the narrator of Hermann Melville’s novella, Billy Budd,describes the title character and Captain Vere as “two of nature’s noble order,” he does not mean to imply that they are somehow perfect, existing apart from the rest of humanity. Rather, he refers to them as such because they so perfectly embody distinct elements of humanity in its undiluted form. Although both characters are clearly human beings, they also represent forces far greater than themselves.
Billy Budd embodies man in his natural environment, devoid of the subtlety and cultivated artifice mandated by the modern world. He is “noble” in the most unsophisticated sense of the term, deriving from his ignorance of evil. It is not for no reason that the narrator refers to him as a “barbarian” (Melville 77). Captain Vere, on the other hand, represents a more cultivated form of nobility, informed by intellectualism and a commitment to the well being of society as a whole. He is a fundamentally moral person, but he also knows that the survival of civilization in the long term requires that, in certain situations, individuals must subordinate their moral impulses in the name of higher principles, most notably law and order. Vere is painfully aware that evil will take the opportunity to slither through even the smallest crack in the bulwark of civilization.
The tragedy of Melville’s novella is rooted in the incompatibility of these two inordinately noble individuals with the modern world. Billy Budd’s natural innocence precludes him from perceiving evil in its more covert manifestations, leaving him exposed to manipulation by Claggart. Vere, meanwhile, is unable to reconcile his innate sense of morality with the demands of duty placed on him by civilization.
In order to analyze the protagonists of Billy Budd, it is first necessary to provide some basic historical context. The recent Nore Mutiny, representing the encroachment of revolutionary sentiment in the British Royal Navy, hangs over the Bellipotent, coloring the attitudes of its crewmen. “It was indeed a demonstration more menacing to England than the contemporary manifestos and conquering and proselytizing armies of the French Directory” (Melville 18). Although revolutionary passion in the British navy abated somewhat after its glorious, loyalty-affirming victory over France at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, the narrator tellingly points out that: “Discontent foreran the two mutinies, and more or less survived them” (Melville 22). In this atmosphere of suspicion, it follows that making one’s intentions overt is to put oneself at risk in the event of a similar occurrence in the future, whether at the hands of one’s crewmates if the mutiny is successful or at the hands of the British authorities if it fails.
It is against this backdrop that the story of Billy Budd takes place. Melville establishes early on that the title character possesses a certain majesty of nature. This quality is so striking that the narrator entertains the notion that Billy, a foundling at birth, might in fact be descended from nobility: “Noble descent was as evident in him as in a blood horse” (Melville 16). Whether this is literally true or merely constitutes the narrator’s way of explaining Billy’s unusual appeal, it sets the Handsome Sailor apart from other characters. Captain Gravelling of the Rights of Man subsequently explains the Handsome Sailor’s admirable effect on his crewmen: “Billy came, and it was like a Catholic priest striking peace in an Irish shindy. Not that he preached to them or said or did anything in particular, but a virtue went out of him, sugaring the sour ones” (Melville 11). From his introduction to his death, Melville ascribes to Billy a religious and philosophical import matched only by Captain Fairfax Vere.
Later on, the narrator comments on Billy’s primitive, even animalistic conception of morality. Unlike Captain Vere and Claggart, who are rather cerebral and calculating, Billy operates almost exclusively on instinct. While the Handsome Sailor would never go out of his way to harm a fellow human being, he is prone to outbursts of violence when he senses that someone bears him ill will. Indeed, violence is the only tool Billy has developed to deal with potential threats. On the Rights of Man, Billy’s gentleness barring provocation serves him well; he is extremely popular and has few enemies.
Even so, Melville foreshadows the tragic outcome of Billy’s easy recourse to violence early on in the narrative. The narrator recounts an incident in which Billy Budd is set upon by a fellow shipmate by the name of Red Whiskers. In response, the Handsome Sailor strikes back at his assailant, knocking him to the deck and winning his affection (Melville 12). In the context of the Rights of Man, this course of action is appropriate. Faced with physical violence, Billy responds in kind. Indeed, Billy is so well-liked on the Rights of Man that the captain claims: “They all love him… anybody will do anything for Billy Budd” (Melville 12).
On the Bellipotent, however, Billy’s nobility does not serve him so well. The narrator describes the transition from “his former and simpler sphere to the ampler and more knowing world of a great warship” (Melville 15). He then goes on to compare Billy to “a rustic beauty transplanted from the provinces and brought into competition with the highborn dames of the court” (Melville 15) It is clear, then, that one must possess an entirely different set of attributes to prosper on the Bellipotent than it would take to do so on the Rights of Man. The latter is a merchant vessel whose crew is comprised of young, innocent sailors who are direct in their interactions and resolve conflicts accordingly. The former is a warship, crewed by older, more sophisticated sailors whose experiences in life, war and mutiny have taught them the value of subtlety regarding their own intentions and skepticism regarding those of others.
In many ways, Captain Vere is the polar opposite of the Handsome Tailor. Where the latter is straightforward and parochial, the former is complicated and worldly. Billy Budd acts mainly according to emotion and instinct, whereas Vere considers the implications of his actions not only on his crew, but also contemplates greater ideas such as law and order. Introducing Vere, the narrator highlights the captain’s literary and philosophical background (Melville 25). Indeed, he derives his nickname “Starry Vere” from a tendency to get lost in abstract thoughts (Melville 24).
Possessing a keen awareness of the classical tenets on which modern civilization rests, Vere is somewhat conservative by temperament, adhering religiously to a set of principles, perhaps even to the point of inflexibility. The narrator explains how “his settled convictions were as a dike against those invading waters of novel opinion, social, political, and otherwise, which carried away as in a torrent no few minds in those days” (Melville 25). Vere feels obligated to defend against the encroachment of revolutionary ideas on the social order because: “they seemed to him incapable of embodiment in lasting institutions, but at war with the peace of the world and the true welfare of mankind” (Melville 26).
That being said, Captain Vere is far more than a detached intellectual. He is also a very human character, with a well-developed sense of empathy that his punishment of Billy Budd threatens to overshadow. In contrast to Billy, he has a keen ability to read the intentions and core personas of his fellow human beings. When Claggart disingenuously accuses Billy of planning a mutiny, Vere immediately perceives that the master-of-arms’ motives are far from pure. Similarly, he intuits that Billy Budd is a fundamentally gentle soul without the calculating nature to commit the crimes attributed to him by Claggart.
Alas, when the Handsome Sailor is struck by his signature speech impediment and at a loss for how to respond to the false allegations Clagart has leveled against him, he lashes out, striking his accuser dead with a single blow. This places Captain Vere in a difficult dilemma, where he is forced to weigh his natural inclination to absolve an essentially innocent man with his responsibility as captain of the Bellipotent to uphold the laws of the British Empire in particular and civilization more generally.
Some elements of the ensuing tribunal and its immediate aftermath bear a notable philosophical resemblance to the Trial of Socrates, as described in Plato’s text of the same name as well as its “sequel,” Crito. The jurors, in a sense standing in for the reader, are forced to consider the full moral implications of a strict adherence to the rule of law. In Billy Budd, as in the aforementioned texts, there is a clear discrepancy between what is morally right and what is just according to the law. Vere, in his official capacity as captain, prioritizes the latter. He claims that the question of Billy’s essential, as opposed to legal, innocence is a “a mystery of iniquity,’ a matter for psychological theologians to discuss. But what has a military court to do with it?” (Melville 66). By placing Billy’s moral culpability outside the jurisdiction of present company, he effectively absolves himself and the jury of responsibility for the Handsome Sailor’s execution. According to this narrative, he and his companions are merely instruments carrying out the will of the law.
Vere’s harsh judgment is partially due to his nature, but it is also a reflection of the times. The captain is justifiably concerned that “unless quick action was taken on it, the deed of the foretopman… would tend to awaken any slumbering embers of the Nore among his crew” (Melville 62-3). Thus, it is clear that in deciding whether and how to judge Billy Budd’s crime aboard the Bellipotent, Captain Vere must take into account more than the mere guilt or innocence of one man. The morale of his crew and, by extension, that of the British Royal Navy, rely on a swift sentence for the Handsome Sailor.
During his trial, Bill Budd attests: “could I have used my tongue I would not have struck [Claggart]. But he foully lied to my face in the presence of my captain, and I had to say something, and I could only say it with a blow” (Melville 64).
Directly preceding Billy Budd’s trial, the narrator tellingly muses: “the unhappy event [Billy’s crime] which has been narrated could not have happened at a worse juncture… For it was close on the heels of the insurrections, an aftertime very critical to naval authority” (Melville 61). Herein lies the main source of tragedy in Melville’s novella. If historical circumstances had been different, it is possible (although by no means certain) that Vere might have heeded his moral inclination to pardon Billy for his crime. To be sure, such a pardon would have posed a risk of undermining discipline aboard the Bellipotent, but perhaps the circumstances of Claggart’s murder, as well as Billy Budd’s good reputation, might have been enough to sway Vere from his harsh judgment.
As things stand, the captain is aware that lenience in the wake of the Nore Mutiny could set a dangerous precedent for would-be rebels, and so he reluctantly decides to make an example out of Billy. Thus, historical circumstances compel Vere to make an impossible choice, with tragic consequences for the Handsome Sailor. The conditions aboard the Bellipotent and, more broadly, throughout the British Navy, force two individuals of uncommon nobility to violate their natural inclinations towards biblical good. In Billy Budd’s case, this takes the form of murdering a man without acceptable motivation, and for Captain Vere it means overriding his conscience in the name of duty.
The Tragedy of Nobility in Herman Melville’s Billy Budd
When the narrator of Hermann Melville’s novella, Billy Budd,describes the title character and Captain Vere as “two of nature’s noble order,” he does not mean to imply that they are somehow perfect, existing apart from the rest of humanity. Rather, he refers to them as such because they so perfectly embody distinct elements of humanity in its undiluted form. Although both characters are clearly human beings, they also represent forces far greater than themselves.
Billy Budd embodies man in his natural environment, devoid of the subtlety and cultivated artifice mandated by the modern world. He is “noble” in the most unsophisticated sense of the term, deriving from his ignorance of evil. It is not for no reason that the narrator refers to him as a “barbarian” (Melville 77). Captain Vere, on the other hand, represents a more cultivated form of nobility, informed by intellectualism and a commitment to the well being of society as a whole. He is a fundamentally moral person, but he also knows that the survival of civilization in the long term requires that, in certain situations, individuals must subordinate their moral impulses in the name of higher principles, most notably law and order. Vere is painfully aware that evil will take the opportunity to slither through even the smallest crack in the bulwark of civilization.
The tragedy of Melville’s novella is rooted in the incompatibility of these two inordinately noble individuals with the modern world. Billy Budd’s natural innocence precludes him from perceiving evil in its more covert manifestations, leaving him exposed to manipulation by Claggart. Vere, meanwhile, is unable to reconcile his innate sense of morality with the demands of duty placed on him by civilization.
In order to analyze the protagonists of Billy Budd, it is first necessary to provide some basic historical context. The recent Nore Mutiny, representing the encroachment of revolutionary sentiment in the British Royal Navy, hangs over the Bellipotent, coloring the attitudes of its crewmen. “It was indeed a demonstration more menacing to England than the contemporary manifestos and conquering and proselytizing armies of the French Directory” (Melville 18). Although revolutionary passion in the British navy abated somewhat after its glorious, loyalty-affirming victory over France at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, the narrator tellingly points out that: “Discontent foreran the two mutinies, and more or less survived them” (Melville 22). In this atmosphere of suspicion, it follows that making one’s intentions overt is to put oneself at risk in the event of a similar occurrence in the future, whether at the hands of one’s crewmates if the mutiny is successful or at the hands of the British authorities if it fails.
It is against this backdrop that the story of Billy Budd takes place. Melville establishes early on that the title character possesses a certain majesty of nature. This quality is so striking that the narrator entertains the notion that Billy, a foundling at birth, might in fact be descended from nobility: “Noble descent was as evident in him as in a blood horse” (Melville 16). Whether this is literally true or merely constitutes the narrator’s way of explaining Billy’s unusual appeal, it sets the Handsome Sailor apart from other characters. Captain Gravelling of the Rights of Man subsequently explains the Handsome Sailor’s admirable effect on his crewmen: “Billy came, and it was like a Catholic priest striking peace in an Irish shindy. Not that he preached to them or said or did anything in particular, but a virtue went out of him, sugaring the sour ones” (Melville 11). From his introduction to his death, Melville ascribes to Billy a religious and philosophical import matched only by Captain Fairfax Vere.
Later on, the narrator comments on Billy’s primitive, even animalistic conception of morality. Unlike Captain Vere and Claggart, who are rather cerebral and calculating, Billy operates almost exclusively on instinct. While the Handsome Sailor would never go out of his way to harm a fellow human being, he is prone to outbursts of violence when he senses that someone bears him ill will. Indeed, violence is the only tool Billy has developed to deal with potential threats. On the Rights of Man, Billy’s gentleness barring provocation serves him well; he is extremely popular and has few enemies.
Even so, Melville foreshadows the tragic outcome of Billy’s easy recourse to violence early on in the narrative. The narrator recounts an incident in which Billy Budd is set upon by a fellow shipmate by the name of Red Whiskers. In response, the Handsome Sailor strikes back at his assailant, knocking him to the deck and winning his affection (Melville 12). In the context of the Rights of Man, this course of action is appropriate. Faced with physical violence, Billy responds in kind. Indeed, Billy is so well-liked on the Rights of Man that the captain claims: “They all love him… anybody will do anything for Billy Budd” (Melville 12).
On the Bellipotent, however, Billy’s nobility does not serve him so well. The narrator describes the transition from “his former and simpler sphere to the ampler and more knowing world of a great warship” (Melville 15). He then goes on to compare Billy to “a rustic beauty transplanted from the provinces and brought into competition with the highborn dames of the court” (Melville 15) It is clear, then, that one must possess an entirely different set of attributes to prosper on the Bellipotent than it would take to do so on the Rights of Man. The latter is a merchant vessel whose crew is comprised of young, innocent sailors who are direct in their interactions and resolve conflicts accordingly. The former is a warship, crewed by older, more sophisticated sailors whose experiences in life, war and mutiny have taught them the value of subtlety regarding their own intentions and skepticism regarding those of others.
In many ways, Captain Vere is the polar opposite of the Handsome Tailor. Where the latter is straightforward and parochial, the former is complicated and worldly. Billy Budd acts mainly according to emotion and instinct, whereas Vere considers the implications of his actions not only on his crew, but also contemplates greater ideas such as law and order. Introducing Vere, the narrator highlights the captain’s literary and philosophical background (Melville 25). Indeed, he derives his nickname “Starry Vere” from a tendency to get lost in abstract thoughts (Melville 24).
Possessing a keen awareness of the classical tenets on which modern civilization rests, Vere is somewhat conservative by temperament, adhering religiously to a set of principles, perhaps even to the point of inflexibility. The narrator explains how “his settled convictions were as a dike against those invading waters of novel opinion, social, political, and otherwise, which carried away as in a torrent no few minds in those days” (Melville 25). Vere feels obligated to defend against the encroachment of revolutionary ideas on the social order because: “they seemed to him incapable of embodiment in lasting institutions, but at war with the peace of the world and the true welfare of mankind” (Melville 26).
That being said, Captain Vere is far more than a detached intellectual. He is also a very human character, with a well-developed sense of empathy that his punishment of Billy Budd threatens to overshadow. In contrast to Billy, he has a keen ability to read the intentions and core personas of his fellow human beings. When Claggart disingenuously accuses Billy of planning a mutiny, Vere immediately perceives that the master-of-arms’ motives are far from pure. Similarly, he intuits that Billy Budd is a fundamentally gentle soul without the calculating nature to commit the crimes attributed to him by Claggart.
Alas, when the Handsome Sailor is struck by his signature speech impediment and at a loss for how to respond to the false allegations Clagart has leveled against him, he lashes out, striking his accuser dead with a single blow. This places Captain Vere in a difficult dilemma, where he is forced to weigh his natural inclination to absolve an essentially innocent man with his responsibility as captain of the Bellipotent to uphold the laws of the British Empire in particular and civilization more generally.
Some elements of the ensuing tribunal and its immediate aftermath bear a notable philosophical resemblance to the Trial of Socrates, as described in Plato’s text of the same name as well as its “sequel,” Crito. The jurors, in a sense standing in for the reader, are forced to consider the full moral implications of a strict adherence to the rule of law. In Billy Budd, as in the aforementioned texts, there is a clear discrepancy between what is morally right and what is just according to the law. Vere, in his official capacity as captain, prioritizes the latter. He claims that the question of Billy’s essential, as opposed to legal, innocence is a “a mystery of iniquity,’ a matter for psychological theologians to discuss. But what has a military court to do with it?” (Melville 66). By placing Billy’s moral culpability outside the jurisdiction of present company, he effectively absolves himself and the jury of responsibility for the Handsome Sailor’s execution. According to this narrative, he and his companions are merely instruments carrying out the will of the law.
Vere’s harsh judgment is partially due to his nature, but it is also a reflection of the times. The captain is justifiably concerned that “unless quick action was taken on it, the deed of the foretopman… would tend to awaken any slumbering embers of the Nore among his crew” (Melville 62-3). Thus, it is clear that in deciding whether and how to judge Billy Budd’s crime aboard the Bellipotent, Captain Vere must take into account more than the mere guilt or innocence of one man. The morale of his crew and, by extension, that of the British Royal Navy, rely on a swift sentence for the Handsome Sailor.
During his trial, Bill Budd attests: “could I have used my tongue I would not have struck [Claggart]. But he foully lied to my face in the presence of my captain, and I had to say something, and I could only say it with a blow” (Melville 64).
Directly preceding Billy Budd’s trial, the narrator tellingly muses: “the unhappy event [Billy’s crime] which has been narrated could not have happened at a worse juncture… For it was close on the heels of the insurrections, an aftertime very critical to naval authority” (Melville 61). Herein lies the main source of tragedy in Melville’s novella. If historical circumstances had been different, it is possible (although by no means certain) that Vere might have heeded his moral inclination to pardon Billy for his crime. To be sure, such a pardon would have posed a risk of undermining discipline aboard the Bellipotent, but perhaps the circumstances of Claggart’s murder, as well as Billy Budd’s good reputation, might have been enough to sway Vere from his harsh judgment.
As things stand, the captain is aware that lenience in the wake of the Nore Mutiny could set a dangerous precedent for would-be rebels, and so he reluctantly decides to make an example out of Billy. Thus, historical circumstances compel Vere to make an impossible choice, with tragic consequences for the Handsome Sailor. The conditions aboard the Bellipotent and, more broadly, throughout the British Navy, force two individuals of uncommon nobility to violate their natural inclinations towards biblical good. In Billy Budd’s case, this takes the form of murdering a man without acceptable motivation, and for Captain Vere it means overriding his conscience in the name of duty.