I’d like to discuss one of the best character developments I have seen from a film series and that is the character of Elizabeth Swann. In this post, I will just be discussing her development in the first film. Maybe I will do the next two in the future, although I feel like her development in the first film is the most dramatic change of her character in the whole trilogy.
I’ve seen a Tumblr post (here) in which someone stated how the first film tried to convince us that Will was the pirate instead of Elizabeth. While I agree with everything else in that post (give it a look, it's good), after re-watching The Curse of the Black Pearl, I’d have to disagree with that particular statement. The film lets us know exactly how much of a pirate Elizabeth is, just as much as it does Will. In fact, that’s the first thing it tells us. The movie literally begins with a young Elizabeth aboard a ship singing the iconic pirate shanty and concerning her father with the notion that she finds pirates exciting. In an attempt to discourage this interest, Norrington states the result of piracy: being hanged. Soon after, Elizabeth is watching over a young, unconscious Will Turner and discovers his pirate amulet, which she takes and hides from Norrington and her father. Later in the film, when Will asks her why she takes it, Elizabeth says, “because I thought that you were a pirate. That would have been awful”. However, it is not that her fascination in pirates changed so quickly; she was trying to keep him from being hanged.
When we first meet grown Elizabeth, we find that her oddities simply grew with her. She finds wearing a corset uncomfortable (even though it’s “the latest fashion in London”). She does not find marrying a man like Norrington desirable; in fact, she clearly is far more attracted to a blacksmith- unheard of for a woman of her status. I love how when we first see adult Elizabeth up until her capture by Barbossa, she is wearing the amulet under her corset. Although this was obviously used as a plot point so that Jack, and later Pintel and Ragetti, would see her wearing it, it is also pretty symbolic of how, despite the outer appearances that conform to society, her strange interest in Pirates has not changed. It was not merely a childhood obsession, but one that stuck with her.
When she does have her first interaction with a pirate, being threatened at gunpoint by Jack, her later reaction is very telling. Her maid notes that she must have had a “difficult day” and Elizabeth automatically assumes she is referring to Norrington’s proposal. When her maid elaborates that she was talking about her life being threatened by a pirate, and how it must have been terrifying, Elizabeth very unconvincingly agrees: “oh, yes. It was terrifying”. When a deathly threat from a pirate and a proposal from a well-respected man collides, the one to come out the most frightening in Elizabeth’s mind is the proposal. This is a clear indication of where her preferences lie.
Throughout the film the audience becomes accustomed to the character traits of pirates. One very common trait we see is selfishness. This is apparent by the many double-crossing and ulterior motives of the pirate characters of the film. Jack agrees to help Will rescue Elizabeth with the intention of using him as leverage to get his ship back. Barbossa is Jack’s enemy because he was his former first mate who led a mutiny against him for the sake of power and treasure. After figuring out Jack’s intentions, Will knocks him out to be at the mercy of Barbossa in order to rescue Elizabeth. All committed these actions with selfish intentions and Elizabeth becomes no different. A particular moment is when she emotionally manipulates Jack and gets him drunk when they are trapped on the island so that she can burn all their food, supplies, and, to Jack’s horror, the rum, in order to alert the Navy. While this was a very pirate-y solution, it was mainly for survival. The real piece of manipulation and, what I believe is the pivotal moment of her becoming a pirate, is when she accepts Norrington’s proposal as a way to get him to rescue Will. Norrington is clearly very in love with Elizabeth but is also acutely aware of Will’s feelings for her; he knows about their connection. Despite all this, Elizabeth uses his love for her as blackmail in order to save the one whom she truly loves.
After this moment, there is no stopping Elizabeth from chasing her treasure- that treasure being freedom, adventure, and Will Turner. She escapes the protection of Norrington’s ship to fight Barbossa’s crew and then later helps Will free Jack from being hanged. When Will and Jack are surrounded, Norrington tells Will that he “forgets [his] place”. Will retorts back with, “it’s right here, between you and Jack”. This is when he sides himself with a pirate. Elizabeth then moves from her father’s and Norrington’s side to Will’s and declares, “as is mine”. Make no mistake: Elizabeth has, knowingly or unknowingly, ended the film declaring herself a pirate.
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