We, here at The Attic on Eighth, love a good novel that delves into the literary canon, plays with what we know, and then produces something of great value that’s all its own. M.L. Rio’s debut novel, If We Were Villains is just that. Dipping in and out of the present, IWWV tells the story of seven young Shakespearean actors who are faced with violence. The novel plays with the prose, borrows from theater, and creates a compelling story of drama, crime, lust, and friendship.

Thematic Topics:

Power and Corruption

Jealousy as Obsession

Masks, Identity, and Autonomy

Coming of Age

The Power of Art and it's Influence on Humanity

Revenge and its Effects

Deception, Secrets, Betrayal

Violence, Complicity, and Trauma

Morality

Whole Novel Journal Focus: Shakespeare allusions and how they foreshadow events and define characters.

The book begins with Oliver thinking of a line from Hamlet (I.v) "But that I am forbid to tell the secrets of my prison-house/I could a tale unfold whose lightest word/Would harrow up thy soul."

How does this quote connect to the unfolding events of the novel?

As you read, collect 5 Shakespearean quotes and make notes on how they connect to the main story. You might have to do some research on the lines and the plays they come from. You might have to look up vocabulary (like what does "harrow" mean?) in order to fully understand.

Something which immediately strikes you as you read this book is the structure. Instead of chapters, the book mirrors a classic dramatic structure Shakespeare used in his plays, divided into five Acts, and each Act into Scenes. And the Acts themselves follow the same pattern of:

Act I - Exposition
Act II - Rising Action
Act III - Climax
Act IV - Falling Action
Act V - Catastrophe

Create a journal page on which you can track how the novel's events adhere to this structure.

"There were seven of us then- hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingenue, extra..."

Make a spread to collect information about each of the seven students and the roles they fill on stage and off. Include quotes (by and about), images, and your own commentary about them.

You can also include the instructors Frederick & Gwendolyn.

Oliver's Audition: Pericles

Re-read Oliver's audition speech (p. 10) and then read the information here about the title character of Shakespeare's play. Why might Rio have put this speech into Oliver's voice?

MACBETH

How does the casting and performance of the Halloween show The Tragedy of Macbeth heighten the tension and foreshadow events to come? What do the roles our characters play suggest about their evolution? How does the tension shift?

Create a journal page that includes quotes, commentary, and imagery from this section of the novel.

The setting on page 79 reflects the thematic and characteristic aspects of the scene in a particularly powerful way. Re-read the scene and then spend some time analyzing the details of setting and how they matter to understanding the complexity of the moment. Create a journal page including quotes, commentary, and images.

Re-read the "there's a bargain made" scene on pages 110-11. Consider what is changing and what is the same. What is the connection with the lines from Shakespeare and the lives of the students?

"Then fall, Caesar."

While tension between Richard and the group has been building since Macbeth, the Caesar performance marks a turning point in the conflict. Re-visit Act II scene 7 (115-120) and analyze how Rio uses language to hint at the scene to come and to capture how it unravels. Create a journal page to reflect how the scene builds tension, explodes, and then dissipates to an ominous end.

2 Sides Writing

Something Beautiful, Something Terrible

There is much beauty in If We Were Villains, often residing right next to descriptions of terrible behaviors and bad memories. Complete the 2 Sides Journal entry and the writing assignment. You CAN complete the conversation with others if you like, but it is not required.

Richard's death scene (149-158) invokes Hamlet's "fall of a sparrow" speech from Act V scene 2 of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Hamlet is challenged to a fencing match, and his closest friend Horatio does not trust the set up. He encourages Hamlet NOT to fight, because he fears the outcome, and offers to stall the match, to which Hamlet responds:

Hamlet. Not a whit, we defy augury; there's a special providence in
the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be
not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come:
the readiness is all. Since no man knows aught of what he leaves,
what is't to leave betimes? Let be.

When Oliver quotes this speech, what connection is being made? Why do you think that Rio chose to include the Hamlet references here, considering that Richard is NOT a hero, and his death is unlike Hamlet's?

"Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44477/ode-on-a-grecian-urn

Keats' poem is a treatise on the power of art. Read and research it and consider how we can see its ideas reflected in If We Were Villains.