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The physical bruises that Richard leaves on his friends represent the emotional bruises they sustain as a result of his abuse and cruelty. He leaves his mark on all of the fourth-years, one by one—he throws Meredith and Filippa onto the stairs, hurls Wren across the yard, hits Oliver and Alexander during the assassination scene, and spends weeks turning James’s arms black and blue. Although the physical bruises eventually fade and Richard ultimately dies after his peers fail to save him from drowning, the psychological effects of Richard’s treatment of his peers lingers. Meredith cries herself to sleep, for instance, and Oliver is haunted by visions of Richard for ten years. Moreover, the bruises that he leaves seem to spread, almost as if his violence infects the group even after he’s gone. Some of the fourth-years self-destruct in different ways—Alexander struggles with substance abuse, for example. James starts to mimic Richard’s senseless violence when he hits Oliver in the face during combat rehearsals, just like Richard turned stage fighting into real fighting.
Bruises Quotes in If We Were Villains
The If We Were Villains quotes below all refer to the symbol of Bruises. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1, Scene 12
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The lake, the broad black water, lurked in the background of every scene we played after that—like a set from a play we did once, shuffled to the back of the scene shop where it would have been quickly forgotten if we didn’t have to walk past it every day. Something changed irrevocably, in those few dark minutes James was submerged, as if the lack of oxygen had caused all our molecules to rearrange.
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Act 2, Scene 4
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“I won’t hurt you,” [Meredith] said. She came cautiously closer, as if she were afraid of startling me. I was paralyzed, watching the silk move like water on her skin. A bruise was already swelling beneath her collarbone, and I couldn’t help but think of Richard’s hands and how much damage they could do.
“I can think of someone who might,” I said.
“I don’t want to think about him.” Her voice had a raw, tender quality, which I didn’t immediately recognize for what it was: shame.
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Act 2, Scene 9
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The delicate line of her wrist was marred by tiny blooms of purple, like budding violets on her skin. Older marks, weak as watercolors now, showed where a heavier hand than mine had touched her, where phantom fingers had squeezed too hard: the nape of her neck, the curve of her knee. She was every bit as bruised as James.
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Act 3, Scene 3
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That little prick of sadness burrowed deeper, touched me at the quick. How well I’d been trained to mistrust her. And by whom? Richard? Gwendolyn? I glanced over my shoulder at James again. All I could see was a shock of his hair sticking up behind the arm of the couch. It didn’t really matter where I slept, I decided. Nothing mattered much after that morning. Our two souls—if not all six—were forfeit.
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Bruises Symbol Timeline in If We Were Villains
The timeline below shows where the symbol Bruises appears in If We Were Villains. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 2, Scene 2
...issue. Finally, James gives in and takes off his shirt to reveal a pattern of bruises along his arms. He admits that Richard is bruising him during the assassination scene of...
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Act 2, Scene 4
...Calpurnia costume and tells Oliver that she needs a distraction. He refuses, looking at her bruise and thinking of Richard. Although Oliver objects, she kisses him, and he kisses her back....
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Act 2, Scene 6
...and Alexander says that he attacked him, too. Oliver urges James to show Alexander his bruises, and he does. Alexander swears and proposes a plan: if Richard tries to hurt them...
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Act 2, Scene 8
...comments on what a mess the assassination scene was, and Filippa, who has a bad bruise. Oliver finds Meredith talking to a cellist in the garden, and she smiles when she...
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Act 2, Scene 9
...next to Meredith after a brief sleep. He notices that she, too, is covered in bruises. Wanting water, he moves toward a bathroom. On his way, he notices that Alexander’s room...
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Act 4, Scene 7
...Subsiding, he asks a pained-looking James what’s wrong. “Everything,” James replies. Then he touches the bruise under Oliver’s eye. James says he doesn’t know what’s wrong with him, but he “want[s]...
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