" 'What's in a name?' Ariel scoffed. 'Well, names can be important. They should have called him Ernest.' " (p. 172)
Thus, Anderson answers a Shakespearean question with a Wildean title. Can Ariel see the future? (I suppose spirits can.) But this is a reference to the title and theme of a play, not to a character from that play as existing in the same world as Prospero, Ariel etc. Thus, Anderson so far stays true to his premise that only the plays of Shakespeare, not any other works of drama or of fiction, are true histories on this parallel Earth.
On the next page, Ariel answers my question above:
" 'Thou know'st our Faerie powers are but slight - illusions, apparitions, some few tricks, forecastings which the stream of time may drown, a whisper of ambiguous advice.' " (p. 173)
"...the stream of time..." evokes all of Anderson's narratives on history, time travel and alternative timelines from The King Of Ys to The Time Patrol.
2 comments:
Hi, Paul!
I think the gentle irony of Ariel saying "They should have called him [Prince Rupert] Ernest" did pass across my mind. It reminded me of Oscar Wilde's play "The Importance of Being Earnest." Altho I have not read that work.
Sean
Of course Anderson was referring to the Wilde play but I have just realised that, since Ariel said "Ernest", not "Earnest", Ariel was not referring to Wilde but making an unintended pun.
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