8 Peculiarities in the masterpieces of world literature that few noticed

Many people enjoy reading masterpieces of world literature, such as You Three Musketeers🇧🇷 Alice in Wonderland and Anna Karenina🇧🇷 Still, many readers today have trouble understanding novels from centuries past. The behavior of the characters, their visions, actions and the events themselves can raise many questions.

Once again, we awesome.clubwe reviewed some classic books and tried to clarify some doubts.

It’s no secret that Tolstoy was unhappy with the first drafts of his novel. Anna Karenina🇧🇷 In the first version, the main characters had other names. At first, the writer called Vronsky Ivan Petrovich Balashov, after Udashev and Gagin, and Karenin was called Michail Michilovich Stavrovich. But why did Tolstoy give the same name to Anna’s two loves even though they are, at first glance, so different?

It is exactly because they were different only at first glance. Both did not know their father: Karenin was an orphan and Vronsky “I had never known family life. Her mother, in her youth, had been a dazzling worldly woman, who had had, during her married life, and especially afterwards, many love affairs, known by all of society. Vronsky had almost no memory of his father and had been brought up in the Page Corps.🇧🇷

The two had no close friends: Karenin “neither in high school, nor at the university, nor later in public service, did he create bonds of friendship with anyone”. Vronsky, though a sociable person, did not have close friends either.

The characters, despite the apparent stability, had problems at work. Karenin, even though he was an important civil servant, did not get promotion and was not as respected by his colleagues as before. Vronsky had a certain reputation due to which “many began to think that he would not be capable of anything other than being a correct and good boy”🇧🇷

Perhaps it was for these similarities that the writer gave them the same name. Anna herself thinks: “What a strange and terrible fate for there to be two Aleksiei, isn’t it?”

Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland to the daughter of the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. Translators often point out that it is difficult to translate the book because of the many complex figures of speech chosen by the author: the book is full of puns.

For example, the Mad Hatter’s name came from a popular saying in England: “mad to be a hatter”, referring to a mentally unstable person. In the old days, mercury was used in the process of making hats, and hatters behaved strangely by inhaling the chemical element.

The Cheshire Cat’s name didn’t come out of nowhere either. Alice asks the Duchess: “Why does your cat smile so much?” And she replies: “It’s a Cheshire cat, that’s all”🇧🇷 Legend has it that in the county of Cheshire they produced a lot of milk, for that reason the cats in that region were happy, well fed and smiling.

This gothic novel, written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, was staged in several theaters in several countries. At that time, the telenovela was innovative in that it featured elements of science fiction and that the protagonist was partially inspired by a real person. Even so, readers wonder: How did Dr. Jekyll decided to do this dangerous experiment and why did he regularly take the potion becoming Hyde?

His behavior is partly attributed to Victorian morals. The novel takes place in England in the 19th century. At that time, dignity was valued more than a man’s health and true feelings. The rigid moral code imposed by society has led many people to lead a double life. The constant prohibitions revealed the sins and vices of Dr. Jekyll, whose essence was released by the potion.

The protagonist of the tragedy macbeth, of William Shakespeare, is very different from the historical figure. In the play, Macbeth is a murderer and traitor who has usurped the throne. In reality, Macbeth was a historical figure and, moreover, a rightful heir to the crown of Scotland.

In writing his tragedy, Shakespeare was inspired by the historical account of the Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, also known as Holinshed Chronicles, and the Historia Gentis Scotorum (History of the Scottish People) by Hector Boece. This author wanted to vilify Macbeth and vindicate the House of Stuart’s claim to the Scottish throne. Therefore, the playwright helped to propagate the distorted story.

Constance, the protagonist’s lover, at the beginning appears as “…a woman of 25 or 26 years old, brunette with blue eyes…”, but Milady sees her as “a girl with fair hair and delicate skin”.

Alexandre Dumas’ novels are always full of action, from the first pages the characters sometimes participate in duels, sometimes start an adventure. Sometimes, so involved in the description of dangerous adventures, the author simply forgot details like the appearance of his characters. So the musketeer’s lover’s change of hair color is just an oversight on the part of the writer.

In his novel, Dostoevsky does not focus our attention on exact dates. The reader only knows that the events begin in July. But the author highlights the 20th of that month, when Raskolnikov is at his mother and sister’s house to say goodbye to them. The writer describes the torrential rain that day, which has a meaning.

According to the Julian calendar, July 20 was the holiday of the prophet Elijah. As the legend says, exactly on that day the saint passes by in his chariot and “throws lightning” at people who have broken the Law of God. And by that the author means that the protagonist will pay for what he did.

The romance Anna Karenina raises one more question for the reader: what does Princess Betsy’s sentence about Anna’s upcoming divorce mean: “You haven’t told me when the divorce will be. Say, I threw my cap through the mill, but other collars turned up will treat them cold until they’re married”? (literal translation of the text)

The phrase “throw the cap through the mill” comes from the French and means “to act in a transgressive way and not to care”. By this the Princess meant that she was not judging Anna’s choice, as she “threw her cap through the mill”, but society would not be so forgiving.

Also, Betsy says the expression “collars turned up”. It refers to high society, whose members wore their collars high and raised, in keeping with the European fashion of the time.

Translations of this speech by Princess Betsy in two different editions of the novel in Portuguese:

“You haven’t told me when the divorce will be finalized.” Let’s face it, I’ve blown social conventions, but other people, more severe, will treat you coldly while you’re not married. (Brazilian Publisher: Companhia de Letras, Translator: Rubens Figueiredo)

“But they haven’t told me when the divorce is yet?” I warn them, I throw everything behind my back, but others won’t do it like me and will find many pedants who won’t even look at you… (Portuguese publisher: Civilização, Translator: Vasco Valdez)

Margaret Mitchell thought of giving this famous novel another title: The Horns Sang the Truth or Not in the Stars🇧🇷 And the first version for the name was the last sentence of the novel: After all, tomorrow will be another day🇧🇷

The title is believed “…Gone with the Wind” come from the third stanza of Ernest Dowson’s poem:

I forgot many things, Cynara! Gone with the wind,
Throwing roses, rowdy roses with the crowd
Dancing, to drive thy pale lilies straying from thought;
But I was desolate and sick with old passion,
Yes, all the time, for the dance was long:
I was faithful to you, Cynara! In my way.

Scarlett O’Hara says this phrase when wondering if the Tara farm is safe or if “the wind, which passed over Georgiatook her”. In a general sense, the phrase ‘Gone with the Wind’ represents the decadence of the American South.

Did you have any doubts reading the classic novels? Comment.