1.2.2-Fizzygingr

ClubNinetyThree 1.2.2: A Night on the Shipboard, and Concerning the Passenger
The ship is comfortable in the darkness, and the peasant-who’s-not-a-peasant is comfortable on the ship, even as it’s being tossed about. Not only does he live in the darkness and chaos, he’s “at home and knows his way on the ocean.” That is to say, he lives in the in-between spaces, neither in England nor in France, neither a peasant nor fully an aristocrat, not in possession of a country or a name. And he would die without owning up to his name, which suggests not only the importance of secrecy, but that having a solid identity is not a priority for him.

Commentary
Pilferingapples Ha, the way you’ve written it up he sounds like he’s in a fairytale. “And I must burn the coast of France neither with fire nor ice, not walking or riding, not at sea or on land…”

INTERESTING POINT about the identity, though! I mean, we’ve seen his accomplices in the know talk about the importance of position and title and all, and surely his HAVING those things are part of why he’s here; but he’s denying them until the perfect time for disclosure? Which, along with Noble and Plebian, seems to tie into the idea that titles and positions are only fit to claim in certain context. Scare Quotes Peasant is a prince *in the carriages*; here, we don’t know who he is, possibly because who he is is a matter of political debate. Even for these men, the stations of life are not as immutable as they might like.