So if Ed had wanted a library like Stede��s, he could have easily gotten one. In “The Best Revenge is Dressing Well,” they raid the vessel where Stede finds several shelves of books, enough that he also refers to it as a “library.” This tells us then that most ships probably have at least a couple books on board and many, like this one, might have a big selection. Going off of his reaction to Stede’s library, I think it would still be possible to argue that Ed is primarily impressed with the number of books he possesses (another kind of material privilege) if we didn’t see Ed get access to a huge number of books and immediately discard them. He jumps straight to looking at the image itself, despite the writing being just as valid a detail to get angry over as the nine guns. The point though is that there’s a page of text to the left and, more importantly, a big title claiming he’s “The Mad Devil Pyrate Blackbeard,” yet Ed doesn’t take issue with the “mad” or the “devil” part. You don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out who that’s supposed to be an illustration of. He has long hair, a massive black beard, dresses all in leather, and is depicted with pirate-y things like ships and treasure. Even if Stede hadn’t led with this being something he thinks Ed will enjoy-AKA, it’s likely something about you-for all the fantasy details of nine guns and snake-like hair, Blackbeard is pretty distinctive in his look. I’ve seen a couple people say that Ed can clearly read because he knew that was a picture of himself, but really, it’s not a hard thing to deduce. In addition, Ed doesn’t engage with the text when Stede hands him the book. Far from it: the show goes out of its way to emphasize all the ways in which Ed and Stede contrast one another, with Stede’s privilege-reading included-presented as markers of a life and emotional expression that Ed simultaneously longs for, yet feels that he’s undeserving of. Though it’s hardly impossible for Ed to have picked up reading later in life while still grappling with the trauma of growing up poor, for me there’s nothing to indicate that. We see through our flashback that Ed does not come from a place of privilege, which includes both education and material wealth based on how the show has defined privilege via Stede. Don’t we think someone else would have spoken up to solve the dilemma if they could? More importantly, revealing that actually more of/most of the crew can read would severely undermine that thematic work of Stede’s upbringing-and that goes double for the man who represents the pinnacle of pirate culture: Blackbeard himself. Not when the group is worried about who will continue their bedtime stories if Captain is dead and Lucius sucks at the voices. Yes, Lucius is technically wrong about being the only other member of the crew who can read, though it’s clear why he came to that conclusion when Jim was pretending to be mute and couldn’t just say, ‘Hey, I can read and write too.’ Beyond that one mistake though, we have no reason to doubt Lucius’ claim. Literacy isn’t the only marker of Stede’s privilege-far from it-but it is a major one and it’s important for setting up this contrast that drives much of the character work. Everyone bow to my whims and the privilege that allows me to enforce them!’ The ability to pay wages and read bedtime stories is what keeps Stede’s mutiny on hold for so long (a sharp contrast to Izzy who has no such luxuries to offer as a way of offsetting his own, difficult personality), Stede’s gentlemanly demeanor (born of a lifetime of social education) is what first draws Ed to him, then it’s his material wealth, and finally Stede giving up his fortune to return with only a dinghy and the clothes on his back is the sign of emotional growth. This is why Oluwande and Jim need to explain that for them, piracy isn’t a fun, midlife crisis and Stede comes to the realization, “I’m not a pirate, I’m an idiot.” Wealth is why he’s able to run from Ed the moment his anxiety gets the better of him, hurting him and Mary in one fell swoop when he shows back up all, ‘I’ve decided to be your husband again the same way I decided to be a pirate. Namely, using the privilege of his upbringing as a crutch/personal safety net (with a side of that arrogant superiority: “Don’t debase yourself for a man who doesn’t even have a tureen on board!”). gentry culture, as well as one of Stede’s major flaws.
We’re setting up the dichotomy of pirate vs.
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