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Act 1, Scene 11
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in If We Were Villains, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Fate vs. Free Will
Identity and Disguise
Love and Sexuality
Theatre and Corruption
Summary
Analysis
Halloween arrives, and with it the fourth-years’ unrehearsed staging of scenes from Macbeth. At midnight, Oliver makes his way to the stretch of beach where the scenes will take place. In the forest, he meets James and sees that he’s playing Macbeth. James tells him that he’d hoped Oliver would play Banquo. From the tree line, James and Oliver see the first scene begin: Meredith, Wren, and Filippa emerge from the water as the three witches. James and Oliver enter at their cue to deliver their lines, and they act out Act I, Scene 3 of the play. As James speaks Macbeth’s lines about plotting to kill the king, Oliver thinks about how he looks “forbiddingly” handsome in a way he’d never imagined.
With Oliver playing Banquo, it makes sense for James to play Macbeth—the two characters are best friends, just like James and Oliver. Still, Oliver originally imagined that Richard would be Macbeth and James would play Banquo, since Macbeth (a man who kills to become king) is a darker part than James usually plays—but as Oliver watches James perform, he thinks that Macbeth suits him. Maybe James is more like Macbeth than Oliver thought.
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After the scene ends, Alexander emerges as Hecate and initiates Act III, Scene 5. As Oliver and James watch the scene, James reminds Oliver that they still have to perform Act IV, Scene 1. They find fake blood set aside for them in a shed, and James helps Oliver take off his shirt and pour the blood all over himself. Oliver runs back to the tree line to take his place for the scene. He arrives in time to watch the others performing the beginning of it. Richard joins the scene, playing a disembodied voice with a handful of lines warning Macbeth to beware of Macduff.
After Macbeth and Banquo speak to the witches in the previous scene, Macbeth kills the king, assumes the throne, and in paranoia arranges for Banquo’s assassination (the fourth years skip these scenes for the showcase). Oliver needs to enter for the next scene covered in blood because he appears to a guilty Macbeth as an apparition at a banquet in Act IV, Scene 1. While James and Oliver are preparing for this famous scene, Richard plays out the entirety of his small part—as it turns out, he’s not even onstage. This is why he seemed disturbed at the lunch table earlier—not only is he not playing Macbeth, but he’s playing a bit part. In some ways, he’s even been shuffled into Oliver’s old place.
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The scene continues, and Oliver enters as a bloody apparition of Banquo. James is pale and wide-eyed as he takes in the sight, and some audience members scream. At the end of the scene, Oliver runs back to the tree line, and the showcase is over. The audience applauds wildly, and a party soon begins. Oliver meets up with Filippa and Alexander, and they decide to enter the thick of the party and get drunk. Oliver is swamped by admirers for an hour until Meredith comes up to him. She compliments his shirtless appearance, and he returns the compliment before remembering Richard and changing the subject.
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Oliver asks Meredith where Richard is, but Meredith is dismissive, telling Oliver that Richard is always brooding about something. Oliver sees Richard glaring at him in the distance as Meredith tugs him away. Meredith leads Oliver to James and Wren, just as James is giving her his coat. When Meredith leaves to get drinks, Oliver compliments him on his performance as a villain. He sees Richard again in the distance and feels nervous, but he pushes the feeling down.
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Themes
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Hours later, the students are drunk and having chicken fights in the water. Alexander and Filippa taunt Meredith into going up against them, but she needs a partner. Richard and James both refuse—Oliver notes that James has always seemed repulsed by Meredith, unlike the other men in their class—so she turns to Oliver, who reluctantly agrees. Wren promises to fight the winners with James as her partner. Although Oliver is drunk, he and Meredith win the fight. As promised, Wren and James wade into the water to fight Meredith and Oliver—but as Wren climbs onto James’s shoulders, Richard stands and objects.
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Richard tells them to stop, pointing out that they could get hurt. When Filippa tries to calm him down, he snaps at her. Colin, who’s been refereeing the games, senses conflict and clears the beach of spectators. Meredith criticizes Richard, telling him that he’s just in a bad mood because he didn’t play the lead role in Macbeth. He mocks her back, calling her an “attention whore,” which makes Oliver feel angry and protective. James tries to urge Richard to calm down, but Richard snaps at him for touching Wren. Appearing drunk, he wades into the water.
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Oliver tries to defend James, but Richard turns and threatens him, too. James warns him away from Oliver, but Richard reacts derisively to James’s mention of Oliver’s kindness. As the group yells at him to stop, Richard shoves James twice. James warns him to back off, but Richard shoves him harder. James attacks Richard, but to no avail—Richard is far larger, and he just laughs at James’s efforts. As Oliver rushes forward to try and help, Richard seizes James by the neck and forces him under the water, holding him under the surface. Everyone rushes at Richard, screaming and hitting at him in an effort to make him release James. After a long moment, he does.
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Oliver supports James as he coughs up water. Meredith and Wren scream at Richard for almost killing James. Oliver and Colin help James to the beach, where he slumps. The group is shaken. Richard tells them that it was just a game, but James just stares up at him. Furious, Meredith tells Richard to go back to the Castle. The rest of them decide to go to bed. As she leaves, Meredith looks at both James and Oliver apologetically. Oliver lingers behind with James and looks at the sky full of stars. James starts to say something, but he can’t get the words out. Oliver comforts him with a hand on his shoulder. Narrating the story, Oliver notes that that night changed their group forever.
