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Marriage

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Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann before their marriage aboard the Black Pearl.

"Commodore, I beg you. Please do this...for me.... As a wedding gift."
"Am I to understand that you will accept my proposal of marriage on the condition I rescue Mr. Turner?"
"Not a condition. I will marry you."
―Elizabeth Swann and Commodore Norrington[src]

Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, was a recognised union between two people. It established rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and between them and their in-laws. Typically, it was an institution between cultures and religions in which interpersonal relationships, usually sexual, were formally acknowledged or sanctioned. The marriage ceremony was called a wedding.

Around the world, individuals may marry for several reasons, usually due to romantic feelings, or mutual love and attraction, but sometimes a marriage was arranged or done for cultural, financial, political or social reasons. In some areas of the world, arranged or forced marriages were practiced and legally permissible. Marriage could be recognized by a religious authority, an organization, a tribal group, a local community or peers, with the union or ceremony officiated either by a religious official, a government official or a captain of a ship.

History[]

"Ummmm, darlin', this doesn't mean we're married now, or anything like that, does it?"
―Jack Sparrow to Amenirdis, after she put a golden ring on his finger[src]

By the Age of Piracy, it was believed that a captain of a ship could perform a marriage or wedding ceremony.[1][2]

Although the young barmaid Arabella Smith originally planned on working at the Faithful Bride for the rest of her life, or until she was married, she was in love with the idea of the freedom and power that came with the Sword of Cortés prior to joining young Jack Sparrow's quest.[3] Years later, when Sparrow was given a golden ring by his lover, Princess Amenirdis of Zerzura, he was afraid that meant they were married for a moment, but she assured him they weren't.[4]

About ten years after Hector Barbossa led the mutiny on the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow met wenches who he would trick into getting married only to be deceived and auctioned at Shipwreck City. Scarlett and Giselle were the most notable of the "brides" Sparrow was to marry in a wedding, only for both wenches to figure it out once the auction started with various wenches. According to Oona, one wench who sported an eyepatch, "It's the 'appiest day of a girl's life."[5]

Following his promotion to the rank of commodore, James Norrington proposed marriage to Governor Weatherby Swann's daughter, Elizabeth, only for her to choose young blacksmith Will Turner instead.[6][7] Will and Elizabeth were ready to be married, only for Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company to interrupt their wedding day upon his arrival to arrest them. By this point, Jack Sparrow believed marriage to be a wager on who would fall out of love first,[8] and once offered to perform a marriage to Elizabeth as captain of a ship.[1] It wasn't until months into the war between the Brethren Court and the East India Trading Company, the titanic battle around the maelstrom that Will and Elizabeth married, presided by Captain Barbossa aboard the Black Pearl.[2]

Mayor Dix of Saint Martin was married to a woman named Frances, who cheated on him with Jack Sparrow prior to the opening of the Royal Bank of Saint Martin. Her infidelity was discovered when Sparrow's crew of the Dying Gull attempted to rob the bank. Several days later, Sparrow ended up in a wedding of his own at Hangman's Bay, forced to marry Pierre "Pig" Kelly's sister, Beatrice.[9]

Behind the scenes[]

"I just thought I'd be married by now."
"I like marriage! It's like a wager on who will fall out of love first. You know, I am captain of a ship. I could perform a marriage right here on this deck, right now."
"No, thank you."
―Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann[src]

Marriage and weddings were first mentioned in media relating to the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,[7] notably Irene Trimble's junior novelization.[6] Though Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann's wedding day was interrupted in the 2006 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,[1] an actual marriage ceremony first appeared in the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.[2]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for The Curse of the Black Pearl, Elizabeth Swann begged Commodore Norrington to rescue Will Turner as a "wedding gift" aboard the HMS Dauntless, though Norrington questioned if his marriage proposal was accepted on the condition he rescue Turner, and Jack Sparrow told Norrington, "Congratulations, sir."[6] While the scene with Norrington and Elizabeth talking about the "condition" was deleted from the final version of the film,[7] it was retained in the junior novelization.[6]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for Dead Man's Chest, Jack Sparrow told Elizabeth Swann he likes marriage, saying "it's like a wager on who will fall out of love first."[10] Although Jack's line never made it to the final cut of the film, it was retained in the junior novelization.[8] Terry Rossio mentioned the line in his "Tales from the Set" posts on the website Wordplay, noting that while it was his favorite line from Jack, it was cut due to running time issues.[11][12]

In Terry Rossio's original 2012 screenplay draft for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Hector Barbossa would have married the beautiful Nadirah, actually the villainous Sea Widow in disguise, only for her to escape right after the wedding ceremony, taking one of the Pearls of Neptune from him.[13]

In Jeff Nathanson's early 2013 screenplay draft, a marriage between Jack Sparrow and Beatrice occurred in Port Royal.[14] By the final version of the film, the wedding would take place in Hangman's Bay and with a priest involved.[9]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

External links[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  3. ↑ Jack Sparrow: The Coming Storm, p. 29
  4. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Seventeen: "A Matter of Honor"
  5. ↑ Tales of the Code: Wedlocked
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization), p. 111
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  10. ↑ Wordplayer.com: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
  11. ↑ Wordplayer.com: WORDPLAY/Archives/"Walking the Plank" by Terry Rossio
  12. ↑ Wordplayer.com: WORDPLAY/Archives/"Nine Pieces of Eight" by Terry Rossio
  13. ↑ Wordplayer.com: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES by Terry Rossio
  14. ↑ Dead Men Tell No Tales script by Jeff Nathanson, second draft, 5/6/2013
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