View source for The Phantom Ship


{{other uses|Phantom Ship (disambiguation)}}


{{Infobox book
| name          = The Phantom Ship
| title_orig    =
| translator    =
| image         = The Phantom Ship - 1847 frontispiece.jpeg
| caption       = Frontispiece to the 1847 edition
| author        = [[Frederick Marryat]]
| illustrator   =
| cover_artist  =
| country       =
| language      = English
| series        =
| subject       =
| genre         = [[Gothic novel]]
| publisher     = E.L. Carey & A. Hart
| pub_date      = May 1839
| english_pub_date =
| media_type    =
| pages         =
| oclc          = 1711835
| preceded_by   =
| followed_by   =
| wikisource    = The Phantom Ship (novel)
}}
'''''The Phantom Ship''''' (1839) is a [[Gothic novel]] by [[Frederick Marryat]] which explores the legend of the ''[[Flying Dutchman]]''.

==Plot introduction==
The plot concerns the quest of Philip Vanderdecken of [[Terneuzen]] in the Netherlands to save his father – who has been doomed to sail for eternity as the Captain of the Bewitched Phantom Ship, after he made a rash oath to heaven and slew one of the crew whilst attempting to sail round the [[Cape of Good Hope]]. Vanderdecken learns upon his mother's death that there exists a way by which his father's disturbed spirit may be laid to rest, and vows to live at sea until he has spoken with his father face to face and accomplished this purpose.

Vanderdecken sails around the world in a number of ships, in the employ of the [[Dutch East India Company]], so that he can redeem his father by presenting him with the relic of the [[True Cross|Holy Cross]] he wears round his neck. His quest, however, brings him into conflict with earthly and unearthly powers as the sight of the ''Flying Dutchman'' brings doom to all who encounter her.

==Themes==
The legend of the ''[[Flying Dutchman]]'' forms the background to the story and makes regular appearances throughout the novel, while Marryat adds many other supernatural details. He introduces as the heroine, Amine, the daughter of one Mynheer Poots, a miser. Having Arab blood in her veins, she possesses some of the secrets of Arabian magic,<ref name="athen"/> but her incautious use of her magic arts brings her into the dungeons of the [[Inquisition]] at [[Goa]].<ref name="athen"/> Likewise, there is Schrifter, the demon pilot; and Krantz, with a tale of horrors in the [[Harz]] mountains;<ref name="athen"/> atrocious monks; and ghosts that will not be drowned.<ref name="dubl"/>

==Publication==
The novel was originally serialised in ''[[The New Monthly Magazine]]'' beginning in March 1837 and ending in August 1839.

One chapter concerning a werewolf, chapter 39, has often been excerpted in anthologies of supernatural fiction as ''[[The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains]]''.

==Reviews==
The reviews for the novel were generally poor. ''[[Athenaeum (British magazine)|The Athenaeum]]'' thought that the work "falls sadly short of the racy marine stories by which the author won his first fame". In particular, it noted that Marryat "dashes off scenes of portent and terror with the same familiar and slip-shod style ... and the result is a feebleness of effect, not to be found in his other novels."<ref name="athen">''The Athenaeum'' (1839), Issue 599, page 297</ref> Likewise in referring to the book, ''[[Dublin Review (Catholic periodical)|The Dublin Review]]'' thought that the "falling off in his last novel ... is very considerable", and stated that "a string of extravagant adventures, carelessly put together, and heavily told, deaden curiosity,—the ''Flying Dutchman'' makes his appearance as regularly as a [[Packet boat|packetboat]], and becomes at last almost as tiresome."<ref name="dubl">''The Dublin Review'' (1839), Volume 7, page 242</ref>

In June 1839 ''[[Burton's Gentleman's Magazine]]'' published an anonymous review of the novel which is believed to have been written by [[Edgar Allan Poe]].<ref>{{Cite book|first=William Doyle|last=Hull II|title=A Canon of the Critical Works of Edgar Allan Poe|year=1941|pages=223–224 |url=https://www.eapoe.org/papers/misc1921/hullw202.htm}}</ref> The review was largely an attack on Marryat's abilities as a writer. Turning to ''The Phantom Ship'', Poe wrote:<ref>{{Cite book|first=Edgar Allen|last=Poe|contribution=The Phantom Ship: Review|title=Burton's Gentleman's Magazine|date=June 1839|pages=358–9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HRrRAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA358}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|The old legend of the Flying Dutchman (a legend, by the bye, possessing all the rich ''{{Not a typo|materiel}}'' which a vigorous imagination could desire) is worked up with so many of the pitiable ''[[Wikt:niaiserie|niaiseries]]'' upon which we have commented, that few persons of disciplined intellect will derive from the medley any other impressions than those of the ridiculous and ''[[Wikt:outré|outré]]''. The story, however, is by no means the worst from the pen of Captain Marryatt, and thus far we most unequivocally recommend it.}}

In more recent times [[S. T. Joshi]] has called the novel "an aesthetic disaster &ndash; appallingly prolix, and written in a stiff, cumbersome style that reads like a bad translation from a foreign language."<ref>S.T. Joshi, ''Unutterable Horror: A History of Supernatural Fiction, Volume 1''. NY: Hippocampus Press, 2014, p. 188</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==

* 
* {{Gutenberg|12954|The Phantom Ship}}
* {{Internet Archive|phantomshipandol00marriala}}
* {{librivox book | title= The Phantom Ship  | author= Frederick Marryat }}

{{Frederick Marryat}}
{{Flying Dutchman}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phantom Ship}}
[[Category:1839 British novels]]
[[Category:1830s fantasy novels]]
[[Category:19th-century horror novels]]
[[Category:1830s children's books]]
[[Category:British fantasy novels]]
[[Category:British horror novels]]
[[Category:British adventure novels]]
[[Category:British Gothic novels]]
[[Category:English Gothic novels]]
[[Category:British children's novels]]
[[Category:Dark fantasy novels]]
[[Category:Fantasy adventure novels]]
[[Category:Horror adventure novels]]
[[Category:Children's fantasy novels]]
[[Category:Children's horror novels]]
[[Category:Nautical novels]]
[[Category:Novels about ghosts]]
[[Category:Novels about werewolves]]
[[Category:Religion in fantasy fiction]]
[[Category:Novels set on ships]]
[[Category:Children's books set on ships]]
[[Category:Flying Dutchman]]
[[Category:True Cross]]
[[Category:Novels first published in serial form]]
[[Category:Works originally published in The New Monthly Magazine]]
[[Category:Novels by Frederick Marryat]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=The Phantom Ship|access_date=2026-03-07}}