HMS
Pinafore Plot Summary
H.M.S. Pinafore is in port at
Portsmouth. It is noontime, and the sailors are on the quarterdeck,
"cleaning brasswork, splicing rope, etc."
Little Buttercup, a Portsmouth
"bumboat woman" (dockside vendor) — so-named because she is the
"rosiest, roundest, and reddest beauty in all Spithead"
— comes on board to sell her wares. She hints that she is hiding a dark secret.
The Boatswain disbelieves her, but the villainous and ugly Dick Deadeye says
he's often suspected something of the sort.
Ralph Rackstraw,
"the smartest lad in all the fleet," enters, declaring his love for
the Captain's daughter, Josephine. His fellow sailors (excepting Dick) offer
their sympathies, but can give Ralph little hope that
his love will ever be returned.
The Captain greets his crew and
compliments them on their politeness, saying that he returns the compliment by
never (well, hardly ever) using bad language, such as "a big, big D."
After the sailors have left, the Captain complains to Little Buttercup that
Josephine has not taken kindly to a marriage proposal from Sir Joseph Porter,
the First Lord of the Admiralty. Buttercup says that she knows how it feels to
love in vain. As she leaves, the Captain remarks that she is "a plump and
pleasing person." Josephine enters and confesses to her father that she
loves a common sailor, but she is a dutiful daughter and will marry Sir Joseph
as her father wishes.
Sir Joseph comes on board, accompanied
by his sisters, cousins, and aunts. After telling everyone how he came to be
"ruler of the Queen's Navee," he delivers a
lesson in etiquette. He tells the Captain that he must always say "if you
please" after an order; for, as he says, "A British sailor is any
man's equal – excepting mine." He has composed a song to illustrate that
point, and he gives a copy of it to Ralph.
Elated by Sir Joseph's views on
equality, Ralph decides that he will confess his love to Josephine. His
shipmates approve heartily, except for Dick, who is forced to listen to Sir
Joseph's song before the sailors exit, leaving Ralph alone. Josephine now
enters, and Ralph confesses his love. Although she finds Sir Joseph's
attentions nauseating, she knows she is obligated to marry him. Keeping her
feelings to herself, she haughtily rejects Ralph's advances.
Ralph summons his shipmates, and
tells them he is bent on suicide. He puts a pistol to his head, but as he is
about to pull the trigger, Josephine enters, proclaiming she loves him after
all. Ralph and Josephine plan to sneak ashore to get married that night. Dick
Deadeye warns them that their actions will lead to trouble, but he is ignored
by the joyous ensemble.
Later that night, under a full moon,
Captain Corcoran confesses his concerns: all his friends are deserting him, and
Sir Joseph has threatened a court-martial. Little Buttercup offers sympathy. He
tells her that, if it were not for the difference in their social standing, he
would have returned her affections. She prophecies
that things are not all as they seem, and that a change is in store, but he
does not understand her.
Sir Joseph enters, and complains
that Josephine has not yet agreed to marry him. The Captain speculates that she
is probably dazzled by his superior rank, and that if he can persuade her that
"love levels all ranks," she will accept his proposal. When Sir
Joseph makes this argument, a delighted Josephine says that she is convinced.
The Captain and Sir Joseph rejoice, but Josephine, in an aside, admits that she
is now more determined than ever to marry Ralph.
Dick Deadeye intercepts the
Captain, and tells him of the lovers' plans to elope. The Captain confronts
Ralph and Josephine as they try to leave the ship. The pair declare their love,
adding that "I am (He is) an Englishman!" The furious Captain is
unmoved, and says, "Why, damme, it's too
bad!" Sir Joseph and his relatives, who have overheard, are shocked to
hear swearing on board a ship, and Sir Joseph orders the Captain to his cabin.
When Sir Joseph asks what had
provoked this outburst, Ralph replies that it was his declaration of love for
Josephine. Furious once more at this revelation, Sir Joseph has Ralph put in
chains and taken to the ship's dungeon. Little Buttercup now reveals her
secret. Years before, when she was a nursemaid, she had cared for two babies,
one "of low condition," the other "a regular patrician."
She confesses that she "mixed those children up and not a creature knew it....
The wellborn babe was Ralph; your Captain was the other."
Sir Joseph now realizes that Ralph
should have been the Captain, and the Captain should have been Ralph. He
summons both, and they emerge wearing one another's uniforms: Ralph is now
middle-class, and in command of the Pinafore, while the former Captain is now a
common sailor. Sir Joseph's marriage with Josephine is now impossible. He gives
her to now-Captain Rackstraw. The former Captain,
with his rank reduced, is free to marry Buttercup. Sir Joseph settles for his
cousin Hebe, and all ends in general rejoicing.