Month: April 2025

This was a very interesting section of the book. It started with Richared being aggressive towards all of his friends agian. There seemed to be an escalation in violence for this part of the book. Maybe because of the stress of the play. The physical and emotional damage to this group of friends has increased a lot throughout the book.

The tragedy and stress of the procuction could be bleeding through into their real lives. Their onstage personalities could be influencing their real life personalities. The characters struggles to seperate their true lives from their stage lives could contribute to the tragedy. Richard esspecially could be playing into his part a little too much.

There was a party at the Dellecher Conservatory Castle’s main hall to celebrate the end of their performance of “Macbeth” A lot of crazy stuff happened at the party. Richard’s aggression seems to be caused by jealousy. He punched a guy for talking to his girlfriend. Then he attacked Merideth and called her names. He doesn’t seem to be able to control his emotions and actions. First he attacks a guy for talking to his girlfriend and then attacks his girlfriend. It doesn’t really make any sense.

There was some foreshadowing throughout this part of the book. In their play, “Macbeth” Richard was Julius ceasar, who ends up being killed.

At the end of the section, the group finds Richard early in the morning half dead floating in a lake and really messed up. This leads to some arguing with what to do with him and who did it. No one really knows what happened that night because everyone was drunk. There was a shift in the group, they went from having a bunch of fun to reality and not knowing what will happen next.

I wonder if Richard’s aggression is an effect on the play. With Shakespeare plays there is a lot of violence so he could be reflecting actions from the play. Maybe because these students are so invested in their characters he sort of blurs reality and the play. It could also be some kind of jealousy. He has also left bruises on people because of how hard he grabs them during rehearsal. I wonder if he is intentionally doing this or if he really doesn’t know his own strength.

On page 83 Fillipa said, “I’m as innocent as you.” which probably means he was innocent or she thinks he is innocent because she wasn’t put in jail. At the beginning a guard told Oliver “You know I don’t think you belong in here.” But he also said he doesn’t think he is innocent which is confusing because he doesn’t think he belongs in jail but he isn’t innocent. I’m not sure if I think he is guilty or not. There aren’t many clues to if he did it or not. Also, if he is innocent, who actually did it? Could it be James because of all the aggression Richard shown towards others? Could it be revenge? Could the aggression and violence of the group be foreshadowing how the group will be affected in the future?

“If We Were Villains” is a murder mystery story portrayed as a Shakespearean drama. The story is constructed like a play with scenes and acts. Oliver, the narrator is in a tight friend group of acting students.

The first scene sets up the group’s relationships and foreshadows future conflicts. Richard later loses his temper due to the unscripted rehearsal not going the way he was hoping. He showcased his aggressive personality, as well as highlighting the tension between the group of friends. Later at a party Richard attacks James which demonstrates his aggression.

A big idea in the story was power and rivalry. Richard is perceived to have some power compared to others. At the same time, he has different rivalries among the group. With his aggressive personality, he is isolated from the group.

Another big idea is loyalty and betrayal. In the group of friends, there is expected to be loyalty among everyone. However, at the lake party, Richard shows betrayal when he tries to drown James. This shows a break in trust and solid relationships within the group. 

M.L Rio’s diction often includes poetic and dramatic phrases which align with the student’s connection to Shakespeare. This diction shows the difference between Shakespearean art and reality. I’m not a big fan of her diction and language because there are some Shakespearean references and I don’t know much about Shakespeare so it can be confusing at times.

I am reading If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio. I picked this book because my partner is Ruby and she has wanted to read this book for a long time. I think this book will be challenging for me because it is like a play, so it might be confusing to read and there are different perspectives throughout the book. I am looking forward to working with a partner because she can hold me accountable if I am not reading as much as I should. I am nervous I am going to fall behind in my reading like I did for our last independent book and leave over one hundred pages for the last couple of days. I am a little nervous because there are a lot more pages than my last book, and I barely finished my other book. I am going to have Ruby keep me accountable and actually read in my free time.