Story summary
Samenvatting van Meneer adelborst Easy
- 8 min. leestijd
- 10 parts
- Binnenkort te beluisteren
A boy raised on equality goes to sea and argues the point with a first lieutenant, a boatswain and a gale.
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Meneer adelborst Easy in het kort
Samenvatting: 8 min leestijd
- Leestijd
- Ongeveer 9 h7 h 10 min fast, 10 h 45 min slow
- Lengte
- 128.500 woorden
- Bibliotheekniveau
- Gemiddeld longer sentences, everyday words
- Voor het eerst verschenen
- 1836by Frederick Marryat
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Hoelang het duurt om de klassiekers te lezen · Bijgewerkt
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Meneer adelborst Easy in short
Mr Midshipman Easy follows a boy brought up on one big idea, that all men are born equal, and sends him into a world of captains, lieutenants and rough seamen. Jack tries the idea on a fishpond, an apple tree and a first lieutenant, and each time it fails in a different, funny way. His courage earns him friends, above all Mesty, while his love for Agnes gives his wandering a goal.
What Meneer adelborst Easy is about
Can a boy raised on the rights of man survive on a Royal Navy ship, where the first lieutenant expects obedience before anything else? Frederick Marryat, a former naval officer, answers that question in Mr Midshipman Easy, a comic novel published in 1836. Its hero is Jack Easy, only son of a Hampshire gentleman who preaches that all men are born equal.
Jack tries his father's ideas on dry land and pays for it. He decides the sea is the one place with no landlords, so he joins the sloop Harpy. There he meets a bully, a stern lieutenant and an Ashantee sailor named Mesty, who becomes his closest friend.
Voor wie is het?. Readers who love sea stories full of fun, scrapes and swift friendships will enjoy this book. It also suits those who like comic heroes whose talk lands them in trouble.
The story in 10 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A philosopher father and a name settled by argument
Mr Nicodemus Easy lives in Hampshire, comfortably rich and married for eleven years without a child. To fill his days he becomes a philosopher, and the subject he picks is the rights of man. He says everyone is born with a claim to a share of the earth, though his guests, who are all landowners, listen mostly for the sake of his port.
His marriage runs on a pleasant trick. Whenever he and Mrs Easy disagree, he tells her she may have her way, and then he does what he wants anyway.
Their son is born and christened John, and soon Jack crawls, scratches his mother and pulls his father's hair. His first teacher preaches equality but always gets his way, and his big ideas are never tested against the world.
A philosophy that is never tested is only a hobby.
- 2Begin gratis met lezen
A spoiled boy meets a schoolmaster with canes
Jack grows into a spoiled boy who kicks his nurse and refuses to say his letters.
- 3Begin gratis met lezen
Jack tests equality on land and falls into a well
On a summer holiday Jack takes his father's teaching out of doors.
- 4Begin gratis met lezen
Jack joins the Harpy and learns about zeal
Jack travels to Portsmouth with plenty of money and spends three weeks at an inn, with idle friends who live at his expense.
- 5Begin gratis met lezen
The midshipmen's berth, a fight and a lost pair of trousers
The midshipmen's berth is a small, dark hole below decks, and every berth has a bully and a butt.
- 6Begin gratis met lezen
Jack takes a cruise of his own and seizes a ship
Sickness reduces the Harpy's officers, so Mr Sawbridge gives Jack a cutter and sends him to raid a Spanish convoy at night.
- 7Begin gratis met lezen
A duel of three and a run for Sicily
Back with the fleet, Jack studies navigation and finds how little he knew.
- 8Begin gratis met lezen
A Sicilian estate, a girl and a hard lesson in manners
Jack and Gascoigne wake in a farm cart and find their way to a large house.
- 9Begin gratis met lezen
Equality meets the facts, and Jack changes his mind
The first theme of the book is that equality sounds fine at a dinner table but fails in practice.
- 10Begin gratis met lezen
A comic narrator with a serious message
The book is told by a narrator who speaks directly to the reader.
Read all 10 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Jack Easy A spoiled, brave and talkative young man who goes to sea to find equality and keeps winning by luck and nerve.
- Mr Nicodemus Easy Jack's father, a kindly Hampshire gentleman who is devoted to equality, phrenology and grand schemes, and who always gets his own way.
- Mesty An Ashantee sailor, once a prince, who is clever, fierce and loyal, and who wants respect more than anything.
- Gascoigne A quick, sharp midshipman who becomes Jack's closest companion and shares his adventures on shore and at sea.
- Mr Jolliffe A scarred master's mate with one eye who is wise, patient and kind, and who advises Jack to stay in the service.
- Captain Wilson The captain of the Harpy, who owes Jack's father a debt and tries to cure Jack of his wild ideas.
- Mr Sawbridge The stern first lieutenant who forgives Jack's rudeness and slowly comes to like him.
- Agnes A young Sicilian girl whom Jack first meets as a frightened captive, and whom he loves from the moment he sees her again.
How it ends (spoiler)
Jack marries Agnes in Palermo, a month after he returns there with his prizes, and sails home with her and her two brothers. On the way he stops at Malta, where the Governor gives them his blessing for the last time. In England, Dr Middleton and Mr Hanson greet them at the George Hotel. Mrs Oxbelly bursts in to demand her husband back, and Jack takes up his new life.
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Vragen over Meneer adelborst Easy
What is Mr Midshipman Easy about?
It tells the story of Jack Easy, a boy raised on his father's belief that all men are equal, who joins the Royal Navy and finds that ships run on rank and orders. It follows his adventures in the Mediterranean.
Who is Mesty in Mr Midshipman Easy?
Mesty is an Ashantee sailor aboard the Harpy who was once a prince in his own land. He becomes Jack's loyal friend, guide and protector, and his own story gives the book some of its most serious moments.
When was Mr Midshipman Easy written, and is it a true story?
Frederick Marryat published it in 1836. It is a comic novel, not a true story, though it draws on the author's own naval experience and its picture of life aboard a Napoleonic warship.
Is Mr Midshipman Easy funny?
Yes, it is a comedy from the first page. The narrator speaks to the reader, Jack argues his way into scrapes, and the chapters are full of pranks, duels and surprising luck, so it is easy to enjoy.
What is the main message of Mr Midshipman Easy?
Big ideas such as equality need to be tested against the real world, and kindness, loyalty and duty teach a young man more than slogans. Marryat also argues that officers should treat junior men fairly.
Verwijs naar deze uitgave
Marryat, Frederick. Mr. Midshipman Easy. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/mr-midshipman-easy.
Marryat, F. (2026). Mr. Midshipman Easy. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/mr-midshipman-easy (Original work published 1836)
Marryat, Frederick. Mr. Midshipman Easy. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/mr-midshipman-easy.
@book{marryat2026mr,
author = {Marryat, Frederick},
title = {Mr. Midshipman Easy},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/mr-midshipman-easy},
note = {First published 1836}
}
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