HOLD ON I JUST REALIZED
SO we all know Dumas likes to put some Shakespeare parodies in his books, right??
So Maximilien and Valentine are definitely supposed to be Romeo and Juliet with the whole “oh no she’s dead I’m gonna kill myself” and “oh no a Morrel can never be with a Villefort and vice versa” and “but wait! She isn’t actually dead! She just drank the thing that makes it LOOK like she’s dead!”
And Franz is probably supposed to be Paris then
And we all know that Caderousse’s wife is probably supposed to be Lady Macbeth with the whole “Don’t be a coward, you coward! Just murder the guy already!”
So I guess it’s not that far off to compare Benedetto to Edmund of Gloucester? I mean it works out well, with the whole “and I’m not really responsible for anything I do, it’s not my fault I was born lol sorry dad but maybe take better care of your illegitimate kids next time”
I think Dumas probably put a lot more parallels in there that I just didn’t notice?
Maybe Edouard is that kid from Coriolanus? Idk I never read Coriolanus.
Maybe Fernand is Macbeth?
Maybe Albert is Hamlet? ( “I’m gonna avenge my dad/ my dad’s honor! Yeah!” )
Maybe Heloise is both Goneril and Regan? ( “oh boy if only I’d get that neat inheritance money! Also I’m gonna poison people. And poison myself. )
Maybe Edmond is Macduff? ( “my family/ father was killed/ died because of you , and now I’m gonna return to my homeland and get some revenge.” )
Idk can anyone come up with more parallels? I’m sure there are more
I bet every character is a parody of some Shakespearean character
How would you rank the Shakespeare plays that you have read?
I’m gonna go in the order I read them-
The Tempest: 5/10. Not so into the storyline. There where some good parts but not enough of them for me to rank it higher than that
The Merchant of Venice: 6/10. Also good but the antisemitism kinda ruined it for me (I know other plays are also racist and discriminatory but the racism is either a) clearly a bad thing- you’re not supposed to root for the racist character, or b) a passing comment made by a side character that’s pretty much never brought up again.)
Macbeth: 7/10 Very good story, not funny enough. You maybe be wondering “but edette, it’s a tragedy! It’s not supposed to be funny!” To which I will respond with “oh yeah? Then what’s Hamlet doing here, being hilarious, with jokes on every other line until the last few pages where everyone dies?”
Julius Caesar: 7.5/10. Mark Antony’s parts are fantastic. He’s all like “oh yeah I’m totally on your side- I totally support you killing MY BEST FRIEND, THIS NOBLE ROMAN WHO DIDN’T DESERVE TO DIE, HOW DARE ANYONE KILL HIM” and everyone’s like “hey Antony? You still with us?” And he’s like “Oh yeah totally, what makes you think I’m not?”
King Lear: 8/10. It’s so good. Edmund’s plan isn’t even good, but it works so incredibly perfectly because everyone is very stupid.
Hamlet: 9/10 It’s hilarious. I don’t care what you say about it being deep and meaningful. Yeah it has some soliloquies, but most of it is just a huge pile of jokes. Literally the funniest thing I’ve ever read. The only people who think Hamlet isn’t hilarious are the people who’ve watched some film version of it before reading the play.
I know I haven’t read that many Shakespeare plays yet, but my local bookstore is reopening tomorrow, so I’m gonna go and see if I could find a copy of Othello and Twelfth Night
Also I just noticed that the ratings go in order of worst to best- that was unintentional but also kinda interesting
Would you rather be stuck on a deserted island with Antony or Horatio? Give reasons. (10 marks)
Horatio- because he’s a very logical guy who either would get us off the island, or at least wouldn’t let any drama or arguments happen while we were there because he doesn’t seem to like drama and arguments
Antony, however, might start drama and possibly not be very helpful for getting off the island
Imagine...you have been granted access to the play of Hamlet. You are however, allowed to save only one from the last scene. Who do you choose and why? [10 marks]
Ok lets go through the characters who die and who should be saved-
Hamlet- Look he’s been waiting to die this whole time. He’s not all that upset about it. And would I really wanna be like “hey you’re alive now, also Fortunbras (idk how to spell that and the play isn’t here with me) is here so you’ll have to deal with him maybe taking over your kingdom haha” I’ll give him a 6/10 points for how revivable he is.
Claudius- 0/10 points. The whole point of the play was to watch him die
Gertrude- She didn’t have to die, but then again, she didn’t have to marry her brother-in-law, so ehhh. I’ll give her a 4/10
Laertes- I kinda feel bad for him, because yes, Hamlet killed his father, and he should have the same rights of revenge as Hamlet had. So although I don’t really like him, I think he should be the one who gets to revive. 9/10 revive points.
