Nancy Blackett facts for kids
Nancy Blackett is a fictional character in nine of the twelve juvenile novels in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of books. She acts as captain of the dinghy, Amazon and usually directing her friends in their various adventures. Nancy apparently has no real-world counterpart as an inspirational source for Ransome but appears to be completely the author's creation. Nancy is sometimes critically viewed as a subversive character for girl readers. The character appeared in a 1963 BBC television adaptation of Swallows and Amazons as well as in the 1974 and 2016 film adaptations of the book.
Role in the series
At the opening of the series in Swallows and Amazons, Nancy is 12 years old and lives with her younger sister Peggy and her widowed mother in a large Lakeland house called Beckfoot. In common with his treatment of many of his other characters, Ransome does not give a detailed description of Nancy, merely describing her as "bigger than John" (Walker). She is something of a tomboy who captains a dinghy called Amazon, usually wears a red pirate cap and often uses nautical or piratical words in her speech, such as "Jibbooms and bobstays" or the classic "shiver my timbers." In her first appearance in Swallows and Amazons, Peggy reveals that "Nancy" is itself a nickname derived from her affection for pirates: her real name is Ruth, which she changed to Nancy after her Uncle Jim pointed out that pirates are "ruthless." Nancy is the elder of the Amazons and older than the Swallows. She usually takes the lead in their adventures. Nancy has a lively imagination and usually thinks up adventures for her friends which she makes more exciting by imagining an exotic background such as climbing Kanchenjunga in Swallowdale instead of just a local mountain. Nancy is still a prime mover of the action even when she is prevented from taking direct part in the action such as when she is quarantined with mumps in Winter Holiday, or when she and Peggy are kept at home when the Great Aunt comes to stay in The Picts and the Martyrs.
Character summary
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Her upbringing in a single-parent household with only intermittent male influence of her uncle has been suggested as a contributing factor towards her independence and sturdy self-reliance. Unlike John Walker, the Captain of Swallow, who defers to his father's judgements and seeks approval before acting, Nancy makes and acts on decisions for herself. For some, Nancy has an immature view of the world while John is more mature, dismissing Nancy's suggestion that they could live on Wildcat Island all year round as impractical.
Nancy matures through the series and latterly uses her energy to support the needs of the younger members of the group.
Nancy is not without fault and her flexible standards of honesty, particularly when contrasted with the rigid code of John and the Swallows has been suggested as one of the reasons for her popularity as it makes her seem "more alive for today's reader".
Origin
Unlike a number of his other characters whose origins were firmly rooted in reality, no direct original has been identified for Nancy, although there have been a number of unproven suggestions, including Dora Collingwood, daughter of writer William Collingwood, whom Ransome first met on Peel Island in 1896, and Taqui Altounyan, daughter of Dora Collingwood and the oldest of the Altounyan children who were models for the Swallows. Ransome himself was never explicit about the inspiration for Nancy, saying only that he had once seen two small girls in red caps playing on the shore of Coniston Water near his house. Another suggestion is that she was based on Georgina Rawdon Smith, whose father had been at Rugby with Ransome, and who, with her sister Pauline, met and played with the Altounyan children on the shores of Coniston.
Ransome's own relationship with Nancy was complex. He recognised that her character defined and led the plots but also acknowledged that other characters were dominated and diminished by her presence. Discussing the plot of Winter Holiday in a letter to his mother dated 2 March 1929 he wrote "the main point of the new book is that two other children turn up... ...and then get involved in one of Captain Nancy's colossal plans for adventure" but later in the same paragraph he mentions the more prominent role that Peggy will play "who in previous books has never really had a fair chance, being so much dominated by Nancy".
Film and television
Nancy Blackett has been portrayed in television and film. Amanda Coxell (now known as Mandy Harper) played the character in the 1963 BBC television adaptation of Swallows and Amazons.
A little over ten years later, Kit Seymour portrayed Nancy in a 1974 film adaptation.
She was played by Seren Hawkes in the Swallows and Amazons 2016 film adaptation.
