1 h 12 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 1 h 12 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when pirate bravado meets fairy magic—and a grand speech becomes a very small joke?
William Brough’s The Corsair; Or, the Little Fairy at the Bottom of the Sea brings pirates, romance and fairy magic into a comic stage burlesque. The pirate ship promises danger and bold talk, but this is a world where wordplay matters as much as adventure. Serious poses invite laughter rather than awe.
Written for the spirit of Victorian Christmas entertainment, the play mixes sea adventure with puns, songs and topical jokes. Brough’s taste for rhyming verse and double meanings gives the comedy its playful edge. The pleasure lies less in realistic drama than in watching romance, theatrical swagger and fairy mischief share the stage.
What you’ll discover
- Pirates meet fairy magic Explore a playful meeting of seafaring danger, romantic mischief and the fairy world.
- Grand words, small jokes Enjoy humour that lets a lofty phrase land on an unexpectedly silly meaning.
- Rhyme with a wink Discover Brough’s fondness for rhyming couplets and puns that turn words into comic surprises.
- Serious tales turned sideways See how Victorian burlesque trades solemn treatment for jokes, parody and playful turns.
- A Christmas stage spirit Enter the lighthearted world of seasonal theatre, where songs and laughter accompany adventure.
Who will love it
This is for anyone who enjoys comic verse, wordplay, parody of famous poems and fairy tales with a wink, told with Victorian humour that pokes fun at its own theatre.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The sea spirits hold a meeting about Conrad
- A bored Corsair and a scheming lieutenant
- Medora is sold and Conrad comes to her rescue
- A storm, a sleeping draught and a stolen girl
- The dervish, the harem and a swordfight
- Medora and Gulnare trick the Pasha
- Reform, parody and how the play is told
Who’s who
- ConradThe gloomy Corsair chief, bored with piracy, who rescues Medora and promises a fairy he will reform and settle down.
- MedoraA cheerful Greek maiden, sold by her uncle, who wants her freedom and Conrad, and proves quick-witted.
- SerenaThe Little Fairy at the Bottom of the Sea, who wagers a month that love can reform the pirate.
- SubmarinaThe fairy guardian of the deep, who chairs the meeting of sea spirits and wants Conrad stopped.
- BirbantoConrad's lieutenant, a schemer who wants to take command of the crew and plots with Yussuf.
- Seyd PashaA fearsome Turkish ruler who buys Medora and cannot decide between the women he has promised to marry.
- GulnareThe Pasha's favorite, who wants to be his wife and helps Medora and Conrad in order to win him.
- YussufA slave trader who sells his own niece and teams up with Birbanto for money.
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Le Corsaire, ou la Petite Fée au fond de la mer
A bored pirate chief, a fairy with a plan and a Pasha with two brides collide in a rhyming stage romp.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to readfrançais
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In short
What happens when a pirate is so bored that cannon fire cannot cheer him up? William Brough answers in The Corsair, or the Little Fairy at the Bottom of the Sea, a stage burlesque in rhyming verse.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The sea spirits hold a meeting about Conrad
The play opens in a coral temple under the sea, where water spirits lie sleeping in shells. Tritons blow their conch shells to wake them, and the spirits dance around a grotto. Then Submarina, the fairy guardian of the deep, stops the dancing. She says this is a public meeting, not a ball, and she takes the chair.
Her complaint is that crime on the open sea is on the rise. She imagines the spirits reading about it in a newspaper called the Subaqueous Times. The culprit is Conrad the Corsair, who sweeps commerce from the waters. She puns that he must be turned off from the main, like gas. Nobody dares cross the ocean because of him.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
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Cite this edition
Brough, William. The Corsair; Or, the Little Fairy at the Bottom of the Sea. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-corsair-or-the-little-fairy-at-the-bottom-of-the-sea.
Brough, W. (2026). The corsair; or, the little fairy at the bottom of the sea. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-corsair-or-the-little-fairy-at-the-bottom-of-the-sea
Brough, William. The Corsair; Or, the Little Fairy at the Bottom of the Sea. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-corsair-or-the-little-fairy-at-the-bottom-of-the-sea.
@book{brough2026corsair,
author = {Brough, William},
title = {The Corsair; Or, the Little Fairy at the Bottom of the Sea},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-corsair-or-the-little-fairy-at-the-bottom-of-the-sea}
}
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What is The Corsair by William Brough about?
It is a comic stage play about Conrad, a gloomy pirate, and Medora, a Greek maiden he rescues. A fairy named Serena tries to reform him with love, while a lieutenant and a Pasha cause trouble.
Is Brough's Corsair the same as Byron's poem?
No. Byron wrote the poem about the brooding pirate Conrad. Brough borrows the characters and the setting and turns them into a burlesque, a comedy that makes fun of the original with puns, songs and fairy magic.
Who is Serena in The Corsair?
Serena is the Little Fairy at the Bottom of the Sea. She wins a month from Submarina to prove that love can reform Conrad, and she arranges his meeting with Medora.
The author
William Brough
1826–1870 · British playwright
William Brough (1826–1870) was a British writer born in London. He wrote plays and theatrical burlesques during the mid-nineteenth century, including The Corsair; Or, the Little Fairy at the Bottom of the Sea. His brother Robert Brough was also a writer. William died in London in 1870.
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