In Love With Shakespeare

Cassius the brute

I guess there are certain moments in life when you need to keep your cool. And this felt like one of them. Now I may look like a bit of a dippy blonde in a mini-skirt. But there's a reason why I'm here in Cambridge. I even got a scholarship! I knew it was time to dig a little deep and show I had, like, some kind of brain under this shiny fair hair.

"Yeah, I think it's pretty interesting," I said, making my voice seem a little bored, just to provoke her a bit more I think.

"Oh really! Well, you're doing a pretty good impression of otherwise."

'A pretty good impression of otherwise'!? I mean, who actually talks like that?! Anyway, I remember smiling a little weakly and adding, "Actually, I think the power of persuasion runs through Julius Caesar like a knife runs through butter."

It probably wasn't the best analogy, to be fair, but I think it at least caught my prof's interest.

"How so?" she said, widening her eyes.

"Well, I noticed Cassius is very cunning when he tries to persuade Brutus to murder Caesar. He tries all sorts!"

"I see," said Professor East, sitting on the edge of her desk and crossing her long legs.

Was she trying to distract me?! It hardly seemed fair. Then she added, in that plummy, velvety voice, "At the end-of-year exams, darling, you will have to do rather better than 'He tries all sorts!'"

I hesitated. Did Professor Kathleen East just say 'darling'? I knew she had, and it made my heart quicken for a moment. But then I reflected that in England both ends of the social spectrum sometimes say darling when there's no special intimacy intended: the shopkeeper or the milkman might say it to be friendly. He might even say "How are you, love?" And your average upper class toff says 'darling' because it sounds actorly and luvvie and maybe because he or she wants to patronize you a little.