Billy Budd

From Outcyclopedia, the free and queer encyclopedia. Billy Budd is an unfinished, posthumously published novel, written circa 1891,  by Herman Melville, concerning a beautiful young man destroyed by the jealousy of some and the overly strict adherence to duty of others.  The novel is partly inspired by Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne,  with whom Meliville is known to have been secretly in love, and also by actual mutinies and trials of the period, especially that of the Somers.  Billy Budd is replete with both religious symbolism and homoerotic elements, likening Billy to Adam, Christ and the beautiful dying gods of myth, all innocent and punished for the deeds of others. Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow. Set during the Napoleonic Wars in 1797, Billy Budd concerns the title character's circumstances after he accepts transfer from a merchant ship to a ship of war, the Bellipotent.   This ship is commanded by Captain Vere, an authoritarian and strict disciplinarian.   Many on the ship are enraptured by Billy's youthful good looks, enthusiasm, and good-nature.   He makes one enemy, however, in the form of shipmate John Claggart, who frames Billy for planning a mutiny.   Brought before the Captain, Billy becomes so enraged at his accusser that he strikes Claggart in the head, killing him.   Billy is hanged for the murder of Claggart, largely due to Captain Vere's refusal to consider extenuating circumstances of the crime and instead follow the strict letter of the law. Significantly, Billy's last words before he is hanged are, "God bless Captain Vere." Benjamin Britten adapted the story as an opera in 1951, which was itself filmed for television in 1988.  In his version of Billy Budd, Captain Vere relates the story of Billy Budd in retrospect. The libretto was co-written by E.M. Forster and Eric Crozier. Billy Budd was adapted as a film in 1962 by Peter Ustinov, with the title role played by Terrence Stamp, who would go on to play General Zod in the Superman movies and Bernadette (aka "Ralph") in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Ustinov played Vere and also produced, co-wrote, and directed the film, which earned Stamp a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Billy Budd was also the name of a song by Steven Morrissey, on the album Vauxhall and I, as a disguised jab against his former friend and Smiths guitarist, Johnny Marr. In 2000, the film Beau Travail, an updated version of Billy Budd set in the French Foreign legion, was made by Claire Denis. External links: Queer History and Literature Billy Budd - MetOpera Synopsis Online Text Melville's Seraphita Wikipedia Entry IMDB Entry for 1962 film IMDB Entry for 1988 television production IMDB Entry for Beau Travail Entry revised 17 November, 2004. All text is available for use under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (see Copyrights for details).