Negotiating Masculinities and Modernity in the Maritime World

The common nineteenth-century cultural motif of the sailors progress depicted the journey of the sailor from boy to man against the backdrop of the sights, sounds, and demands of the maritime world. In George Cruikshanks widely disseminated 1819 etching of that name (Fig. 1) the British sailors life was one f dancing, drinking, fghting, and exercising his authority on wooden decks, as he moved from inexperienced landlubber to raconteur pensioner.