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Act 3, Scene 16
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
Three days later, Oliver is dressed in his Benvolio costume for the Christmas masque that night. In the library, he runs into Alexander snorting a line of powder. Like Oliver, he has an exquisite mask as part of his costume. Alexander’s mask, however, has a “devilish” point and is less “delicate” than Oliver’s. Alexander offers to let Oliver join in, but Oliver heatedly refuses. Alexander tells him not to tell anyone, and Oliver answers him only in short sentences as they walk to the Hall. Alexander calls his name and tells him that he’ll get clean in January, but Oliver is still displeased, telling him that it’s risky to have substances in the Castle where Colborne could find them. Oliver tells him that he doesn’t want to keep any more of his secrets and walks ahead of him.
Alexander has been using marijuana since the beginning of the book, but his drug use in this scene suggests that the stress of keeping the group’s secret has brought on more serious substance abuse. The differences in Alexander and Oliver’s masks evoke Alexander’s villainous typecast and Oliver’s virtuous one, underlining how “villainous” Alexander’s drug use is becoming—even if it’s only hurting himself. Oliver is feeling the pressure of secret-keeping, too; at this point, it seems like everyone in the group is lying to the others about something.
Themes
