Nelson, or, “Britannia Rules the Waves”

Scholars have identified Horatio Nelson as one of the first celebrities, with particular “skill in managing his public image”, and Edward Fitzball’s Nelson, or, “Britannia Rules the Waves” celebrates the admiral’s famous qualities of bravery, patriotism, and self-sacrifice. In some ways, the play’s alternate title, Nelson or, The Life of a Sailor, more accurately describes a plot that dramatizes about 30 years of Nelson’s life, though it takes considerable liberties along the way. In 1773, Nelson set out in HMS Carcass on a voyage of arctic exploration. Act III finds Nelson in Naples, where Fitzball treats the Admiral’s actions as heroic, though in truth, poor command of Italian and weak diplomatic skills left him vulnerable to manipulation. Nelson supported Carolina’s policy, and though the King’s troops arrived triumphantly in Rome, within a week French forces counterattacked and destroyed the Neapolitan army.