One of my favorite scenes in the book is the Halloween performance of Macbeth in Act 1, Scene 12. It also causes many moments of turmoil, secrecy, grief, and madness, which are all central themes in most of Shakespeare’s plays, especially his tragedies. Is it more important that Richard dies, or that his friends (including his girlfriend) let him die? Richard dying at James’ hands while they’re performing Julius Caesar (as Caesar and Brutus respectively) blurs the lines between fiction and reality. That’s not only another clue as to what Richard’s fate is, but it’s also the question of the book. “Which is more important? That Caesar is assassinated, or that he is assassinated by his intimate friends?” Frederick brings up a very important point, I definitely have my fair share of issues with the teachers, Frederick and Gwendolyn, but another one of my favorite foreshadowing moments takes place in Frederick’s class. I truly love this very subtle moment of foreshadowing that sets up the rest of the book. Then, I thought back to this scene and realized that we had the answer all along. The first time I read If We Were Villains, the reveal that James was the one to hit Richard which led to his death shocked me. It’s a bunch of actors discussing casting possibilities, and friends (and sometimes rivals) making jokes with one another -, but if you take a closer look you realize that we’ve been told which character is going to die, and which character kills them. Upon the first read, this seems like a completely innocent conversation. “James will be Brutus because he’s always the good guy,” This always to tyrants”Īlexander gestured from one of them to the other. “Sic semper tyrannis,” James said, and drew the tip of his pen across his throat like a dagger. “Because we all secretly want to kill him?” James asked. Our seven thespians are preparing for their Caesar auditions and speculating about casting when Alexander says that he can call the cast list before they’ve even auditioned.Īlexander pushed his unruly black curls back from his face and said, “Well, obviously, Richard will be Caesar” The most clever use of foreshadowing, in my opinion, and actually my favorite piece of foreshadowing in the book comes on page fifteen. Obviously many Shakespeare stories are referenced in If We Were Villains and there are influences from all of them shown in the storytelling, but none more so than Julius Caesar - although as the title of the book comes from King Lear, you could also make an argument for Lear, but we’ll get there - and I think if you know Julius Caesar well, you can really pick up much of the foreshadowing throughout the book. There is so much foreshadowing and so many parallels throughout the book and if I pointed them all out, I think this post would verge on Les Mis territory, so I’ll just be pointing out some of my favorite moments! Something that I think Rio did particularly well was using the four main Shakespeare plays mentioned in the book - Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear - as mirrors and foreshadowing for the events of the book, which is what I am going to be discussing and analyzing! One of my favorite things about the book is how seamlessly his works and language are woven into the story. Shakespeare has an immense influence on If We Were Villains, and really, he is the most important character in the book. This post is basically all spoilers - I can’t really get into the nitty gritty parallels, influences, and foreshadowing without doing so - so if you haven’t read the book, I highly recommend reading it and then checking this post! Okay, it’s gonna be a long one, friends, so get comfy, grab some tea, and let’s get started! I also thought this was the perfect time to do so because I’ve (unintentionally) reread If We Were Villains on September 14th for the last two years - so it made sense to do a reread and re-annotation this month! I did annotate a copy of If We Were Villains earlier this year, but I did so before I really started to develop my process for annotating, so, I wanted to try again with my more specific and detailed system. Happy Wednesday, everyone! I hope that you’re doing well and staying safe! This week, I’m bringing you another Annotate with Me post, and this time I’m highlighting my favorite book - If We Were Villains by M.L.
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