If you're going to talk about rascals in children's lit, I think Fudge from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and sequelae needs to be on the list!
Spoiler: He ATE the turtle!!
Giles: I jump out of the circle, jump back in, and, and, shake my gourd. Buffy: Hey, I think I know this ritual. The ancient shamans were next called upon to do the Hokey-Pokey and to turn themselves around.
'Dirty Girls'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
flea - May 15, 2009 4:04:40 am PDT #9130 of 28405
information libertarian
Barb - May 16, 2009 8:58:43 am PDT #9131 of 28405
“Not dead yet!”
Romeo and Juliet aficionados/scholars, help?
What do we know of Mercutio other than Romeo's bestie who's a smartass who bites it at Tybalt's hand? Anything else within canon that's been cut from common iterations of the play?
Anne W. - May 16, 2009 9:00:58 am PDT #9132 of 28405
The lost sheep grow teeth, forsake their lambs, and lie with the lions.
He's a relative of the Prince, if I recall correctly.
Kat - May 16, 2009 10:45:25 am PDT #9133 of 28405
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
And he's a relative of Paris, I think.
Also, he was in Brooke's Romeus and Juliet, which is thought to be Shakespeare's source material. In that version, he's not merely a jokester friend of Romeo and Benvolio but he's also a suitor in competition with Romeo for Juliet.
Barb - May 16, 2009 11:02:15 am PDT #9134 of 28405
“Not dead yet!”
Also, he was in Brooke's Romeus and Juliet, which is thought to be Shakespeare's source material. In that version, he's not merely a jokester friend of Romeo and Benvolio but he's also a suitor in competition with Romeo for Juliet.
I had just been looking at that.
Heh.
I'ma plotting. My head may explode before it's all over, but I'm plotting.
Beverly - May 16, 2009 11:13:53 am PDT #9135 of 28405
Days shrink and grow cold, sunlight through leaves is my song. Winter is long.
It may just be the performances I've seen, but I've always gotten the feeling Mercutio was hot for Romeo.
Kat - May 16, 2009 11:58:48 am PDT #9136 of 28405
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
I had just been looking at that.
I'm just saying, that was a piece of knowledge that is wedged in there along with the Guy Fawkes' references in Macbeth that is completely taking up brain space and never used!
Typo Boy - May 16, 2009 12:00:06 pm PDT #9137 of 28405
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
It may just be the performances I've seen, but I've always gotten the feeling Mercutio was hot for Romeo.
Tanith Lee did an AU version where that was pretty explicit. I don't remember whether they had actually been lovers or not.
juliana - May 16, 2009 12:07:44 pm PDT #9138 of 28405
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I miss them all tonight…
I've always gotten the feeling Mercutio was hot for Romeo.
The subtext is definitely there. He's rather possessive of Romeo and very aware of his moods.
Barb - May 17, 2009 4:22:03 am PDT #9139 of 28405
“Not dead yet!”
I had vaguely remembered the Brooke's reference and Kat's mention had me checking it out. Basically, I got hit with a whacked out story idea-- first element being, what if the Roman and Greek gods, rather than being culturally different iterations of the same gods, were actually completely separate? Different "families" as it were? Alive and well and existing in the modern world. I kind of see the families as modern day media/corporate moguls-- Jupiter and Zeus as Richard Branson and Rupert Murdoch. Then of course, the Romeo & Juliet/West Side Story with a splash of the Sopranos becomes somewhat natural.
However, when trying to figure out who would be my "Romeo," I kept thinking of Mercury (moody, cranky, little SOB, of course, he's my favorite of the Roman gods) which led me to Mercutio and my twisted little brain started playing with the idea of what if, instead of a Mercutio-based character dying or sacrificing himself, he gets Juliet?
It's all very twisty and convoluted in my mind at the moment and of course, there's just so much to choose from within the greater canvas of both mythologies, but the more I think about it, the more I want to play with it. I'm still trying to play with what Roman god would be the Romeo equivalent, but I'm thinking I might want Juliet to be Athena.
It may go nowhere, but it gives me an excuse to watch the Zeffirelli version of R&J again with the oh-so-pretty Leonard Whiting and the young and beautiful Michael York as Tybalt. Mmmmmm...