 Cover of an 1899 edition byFrederick Warne & Co | |
| Author | Charles Kingsley |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Adventure fiction |
Publication date | 1855 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Pages | 378 |
| ISBN | 1500778745 |
| OCLC | 219787413 |
| Text | Westward, Ho! atWikisource |
Westward Ho! is an 1855 historical novel written by British authorCharles Kingsley.
Set initially inBideford inNorth Devon during the reign ofElizabeth I,Westward Ho! follows the adventures of Amyas Leigh, an unruly child who as a young man followsFrancis Drake to sea. Amyas loves local beauty Rose Salterne, as does nearly everyone else; much of the novel involves Rose's elopement with aSpaniard.
Amyas spends time in theCaribbean coasts ofVenezuela seeking gold, and in the process finds his true love, the beautiful Indian maiden Ayacanora. During the return journey to England, he discovers that Rose and his brother Frank have been burnt at the stake by theSpanish Inquisition. He vows revenge on all Spaniards, and joins in the defence of England against theSpanish Armada. When he is permanently blinded by a freak bolt of lightning at sea, he accepts this as God's judgement and finds peace in forgiveness.
The title of the book derives from the traditional call of boat-taxis on theRiver Thames, which would call "Eastward ho!" and "Westward ho!" to show their destination.[1][2] "Ho!" is aninterjection or a call to attract passengers, without a specific meaning besides "hey!" or "come!"[3] The title is also a nod towards the playWestward Ho!, written byJohn Webster andThomas Dekker in 1604, which satirised the perils of the westward expansion of London.[1] The full title of Kingsley's novel isWestward Ho! Or The Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight of Burrough, in the County of Devon, in the reign of Her Most Glorious Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, Rendered into Modern English by Charles Kingsley. This elaborate title is intended to reflect the mock-Elizabethan style of the novel.[4] Viola's use of "Westward ho!" in William Shakespeare'sTwelfth Night is an earlier reference.
Kingsley dedicated the novel toSir James Brooke,Rajah of Sarawak, and BishopGeorge Selwyn, whom he saw as modern representatives of the heroic values of the privateers who were active during the Elizabethan era.
Westward Ho! is an historical novel which celebrates England's victories over Spain in theElizabethan era.
Although originally a political radical, Kingsley had by the 1850s become increasingly conservative and a strong supporter of overseas expansion.[4] The novel consistently emphasises the superiority of English values over those of the "decadent Spanish".[1] Although originally written for adults, its mixture of patriotism, sentiment, and romance caused it to be deemed suitable for children, and it became a firm favourite of children's literature.[5]
A prominent theme of the novel is the 16th-century fear ofCatholic domination,[5] and this reflects Kingsley's own dislike of Catholicism.[4] The novel repeatedly shows the Protestant English correcting the worst excesses of the SpanishJesuits and theInquisition.[4]
The novel's virulentanti-Catholicism, as well as its racially insensitive depictions of the South Americans, has made the novel less appealing to a modern audience, although it is still regarded by some as Kingsley's "liveliest, and most interesting novel."[6]
In April 1925, the book was the first novel to be adapted for radio by theBBC.[7] The first movie adaptation of the novel was a 1919 silent film,Westward Ho!, directed byPercy Nash.[8] A 1988 children's animated film,Westward Ho!, produced byBurbank Films Australia, was loosely based on Kingsley's novel.[9]
The book is the inspiration behind the unusual name of the village ofWestward Ho! in Devon, the only place name in the United Kingdom that contains anexclamation mark.[10]
J. G. Ballard, in an interview withVanora Bennett, claimed that being forced to copy lines from the novel as a punishment at the age of eight or nine was the moment he realised he would become a writer.[11]
The full text ofWestward Ho! at Wikisource
Media related toWestward Ho! (novel) at Wikimedia Commons