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Act 3, Scene 11
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
This term, the fourth-year drama students will put on scenes from Romeo and Juliet, work on weapons combat, and perform speeches at midterm. Oliver has been assigned a speech of Philip the Bastard from King John. As they’re studying in the library, Wren arrives. James jumps up to greet her, and they all give her a group hug. Meredith, who arrived late the previous night, emerges from her room and greets Wren warmly. The others trickle out of the room and leave Meredith and Oliver to talk. They have a stilted conversation about Thanksgiving break, and Oliver awkwardly asks Meredith if she wants to sleep alone. She replies, “Do you want to sleep with me or would you rather sleep with James?” Oliver blushes, and Meredith shakes her head and leaves.
Philip the Bastard is a nuanced character—he’s cunning but loyal to King John, the hero of the play. For Oliver, then, the monologue assignment represents only a slight shift from his sidekick mindset. James’s enthusiastic greeting for Wren further indicates his affection for her. Meredith, however, seems more worried about James and Oliver, and Oliver’s refusal to answer her question indicates his embarrassment that she’s noticed his love for James. It also suggests that the answer to her question might be James, not Meredith.
Themes
Oliver joins Alexander on the dock for a smoke. He tells him about Colborne lurking in the Castle. Alexander says that they should do nothing in response and keep it a secret from the others so that they continue acting normal. Oliver asks Alexander where he was that night, and Alexander admits that he was with Colin. The two poke fun at each other’s exploits, and Alexander says that he would’ve had sex with Meredith if he had been in Oliver’s position. In the face of Oliver’s amusement, Alexander calls himself “sexually amphibious” and tells Oliver, “You should try it.”
Alexander is always the one who advocates for secrecy and deceit; like the villains he plays, he’s a plotter. As his drug use suggests, however, his constant scheming seems like it might begin to take a toll on him. Alexander’s multifaceted sexuality sounds similar to Oliver’s situation, caught as he is between his attraction to James and Meredith. His cheeky encouragement to Oliver suggests that Alexander may have noticed Oliver’s fixation on both James and Meredith.
Themes
Oliver looks down into the water and sees his reflection. With a jolt, he realizes that he looks like Richard in the low light. As they stand to leave, Alexander tells Oliver that he found Richard’s body after leaving Colin’s room, and that he found it odd that there was no blood on the dock. After they’ve both laughed at a joke about Richard, Oliver asks when they became “such terrible people.” Alexander suggests they might always have been that way—“Or maybe we learned from Richard.” Oliver is frightened at the thought.
Although the fourth-years are plotting together, it’s becoming increasingly clear that they’ve been keeping secrets from each other, too—can they really trust one another? Oliver’s reflection lines up with Alexander’s hypothesis about Richard corrupting the group: with Oliver on the verge of a relationship with Meredith, and with their whole group complicit in a death, he’s starting to have more and more in common with Richard.
Themes
