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Act 2, Prologue
Themes
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
Two weeks before the opening night of Julius Caesar, the fourth-years are posing for play posters. In his costume, Oliver starts to think of himself as attractive. He notices how tall and imposing Richard looks as he’s photographed. After Richard, they move on to taking photos of the two couples in the play, acted by Richard and Meredith and James and Wren. Alexander and Oliver stand to the side and watch. Alexander points out how stiff Meredith and Richard are and tells Oliver that they’re sleeping separately now. Oliver points out how James plays with Wren’s hair in a way that doesn’t seem like it’s for the cameras’ benefit. Alexander calls him oblivious.
Oliver’s self-esteem, bolstered after playing Banquo in Macbeth, continues to improve. Still, most of his focus is on his friends instead of himself as he intently watches their photo sessions. Meredith and Richard are behaving in a manner opposite to James and Wren. Whereas the first couple is cold and distant with one another, the second is physically comfortable in a way that Oliver hasn’t noticed before now. Alexander, however, has noticed, and his insult to Oliver implies that he thinks Wren and James are intimate.
Themes
