All my posts this season are “inspired by” a letter of the alphabet!
I wanted to talk a little about some quotations from literature and film, and why I feel they endure. Before I begin, a note: I vividly remember my English teacher at school reminding us time and again, that the word quote is a verb, to quote, but if you want to refer to something that somebody has said, it is a quotation. Oh, the earth-shattering facts that I recall.
So let’s begin…
Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again.
No, I didn’t. I’ve never been before, so how could I go again? But Daphne Du Maurier’s unnamed heroine in her novel Rebecca, did. I’ve been musing about the impact a first line of a novel has. In this case, the reader immediately has questions. What is Manderley? Who is speaking? Is there the shadow of a ghost in the idea of dreaming? It sets the mood, but we don’t know if the memory evoked is good or bad. So we want to know more and read on.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
From Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, this first line immediately sets the tone of the novel; light-hearted, ironic and critical at the same time. As well as talking about marriage and economic advantage. All in one sentence?! Well yes, she was just that brilliant. Imagine she had used is generally instead of must be… The must be invites acknowledgement that of course this is a fact and everybody knows it.
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…
Apologies. Those of you who are regulars to the blog know I’m a fan of Dickens, so I couldn’t ignore him. That said, this first line, from A Tale of Two Cities, does run on a tad. However, the first juxtaposition, above, is so incredibly succinct, universal and timeless that it has deservedly gone down in history. Aren’t we always living in the best and worst of times? Perspective. Who is on the right side of history and who on the wrong? Or is that a question impossible to answer? In the case of the novel, we’re talking about the French Revolution. But in the times we live in, I feel it to be especially relevant.
I had the story, bit by bit, from various people and as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story.
Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, is a heartbreaking, beautifully written, short novel. Without going into the story, if we just focus on the first line, we see a perfect summary of what stories are. And we are prepared by it not to believe everything we read. We must sift through the evidence, as it were, in order to come to our own conclusions. And the novel does just that. Even at the end, it is tricky to choose whose side to take, who is good and who is bad, if indeed anyone can be considered wholly one thing or the other. But the point of that first line, as I see it, is to prepare the reader for a story, a tale, and that even the author doesn’t know what to believe. Over one hundred years later, it is still relevant in our times of social media and fake news!
En un lugar de la Mancha, de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme, no ha mucho tiempo que vivía un hidalgo de los de lanza en astillero, adarga antigua, rocín flaco y galgo corredor.
And in translation, Somewhere in La Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a gentleman lived not long ago, one of those who has a lance and ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing.
Don Quijote, El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, by Miguel de Cervantes, arguably the greatest novel of all time, begins with the image of an insignificant, possibly down on his luck, individual, who turns out to be a hero for many, an antihero for others. Our initial picture of him does not lead us to expect that; it feels more as if he is the underdog, which is part of its beauty.
I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.
Dodie Smith, of 101 Dalmations fame, also wrote the novel I Capture the Castle, which the above first line comes from. It is a marvellous novel, in which very little happens. But the first line sites us clearly in the mundanity, familiarity of home life, but with a twist. Who sits in the kitchen sink? Immediately we know the narrator is a little different, and I, for one, wanted to find out more about her.
There are also myriad memorable quotations from film, and I’d like to mention a few of my favourites.
You’re gonna need a bigger boat
From Jaws, directed by Stephen Spielberg. Just an truly fun one-liner, a classic understatement from the terse Chief Brody on realising what type of shark they are hunting.
You had me at hello
From Jerry Maguire, directed by Cameron Crowe. Perhaps a little saccharine, but romantic and heartfelt at the same time. Renee Zellweger, in one short phrase, after a meandering attempt at an explanation and apology from Tom Cruise, encapsulates how when you truly love someone, you will always do so, regardless of their faults and failings.
Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more
From The Wizard of Oz, directed primarily by Victor Fleming. It’s basically uh-oh, mixed with, hey, we’re going to have an adventure. I love the understated way she says I have a feeling... As if there may be some doubt. For one thing, Dorothy’s world is suddenly in colour, and not sepia. A bit of a giveaway. And haven’t we all wanted to go over the rainbow at one time or another?
Hello. My name is Iñigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
From The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner. Probably, and I say probably with absolutely no evidence to back it up, one of the most repeated quotations from film. The mere repetition of the phrase throughout the story brings it a cult status. And when Iñigo meets his nemesis, the repetition of the phrase builds to such a crescendo that you can’t help but cheer with excitement for him.
So, I suppose that all of these quotations are enduring because we can relate to them. Some even become a part of common parlance, a cultural reference, and are so famous that everyone knows what we want to say when we repeat them, even if we are not aware of where the line comes from. We recognise a part of us in them. They encapsulate something. Whether it be our curiosity for the unknown, for what is beyond, our desire to laugh at the absurdity of society, our wish to be able to cheer for a hero, or an underdog, our need to believe in happy endings, our fascination for the layers of a story, finding refuge in the familiar, or simply the enjoyment provided by a well-delivered one-liner, when we can see ourselves, or our desires, or our vision of the world reflected in a quotation, then that line will stay with us forever.
What a long sentence. Maybe I’m channelling Dickens.
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