If We Were Villains

The novel’s title is taken from a soliloquy from King Lear (Act I, Scene 2), in which Edmund debates whether destiny or choice drives actions. In the speech, Edmund insists that people are villains because of their choices and actions, and not because they were born under a particular star; James, who plays Edmund, quotes the entire soliloquy to Oliver. Ironically, Edmund’s resentment—and motivation for his actions—is born from the circumstances of his birth . As the illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester, Edmund is labelled a bastard and ignored by his father, who favors his legitimate son Edgar. Edmund, illustrates the fine line between destiny and free will, and James shares these struggles. It is difficult to say to what extent human actions are driven by pure choice. Individual circumstances beyond one’s control—such as poverty, class, gender, trauma, poor parenting, illnesses—do define and limit a person’s choices.

In the context of the play, destiny describes the individual circumstances of the students, as well as the roles into which they’ve been typecast. The environment at Dellecher fuels Richard’s grandiosity, forces Meredith to play the coquette, and makes Oliver doubt his own worth.