The term “pirate” is often an insult in Captain Blood; it describes a corrupt seafaring vagabond, usually male, who uses violence and deceit to plunder civilized, law-abiding communities. The worst pirates in Captain Blood, however, are not vagabonds; they are representatives of supposedly legitimate authority. Blood, by contrast, is more gentleman than pirate in his dealings—he shows a commoner is capable of gentility while a powerful gentleman is capable of criminality. In the end, the characters receive poetic justice. Blood prospers, whereas every dishonorable gentleman receives humiliation or death.

The pirate gentlemen are Colonel Bishop, Don Diego, Don Miguel, Rivarol, and even Lord Julian. Each abuses his power for personal gain. Colonel Bishop abuses people he enslaved and misuses the English fleet to pursue personal vengeance; Don Diego, Don Miguel, and Rivarol use their government positions to legitimize immoral acts that benefit them financially; and Lord Julian’s jealousy of Captain Blood compels him to join forces with Colonel Bishop. Captain Blood, on the other hand, behaves honorably in that he abides by a personal code similar to the gentlemanly code of chivalry. An official in Maracaybo tells him, “You have the repute of making war like a gentleman” (175).