A Truelove of Turtle Doves

Chpt 8 - Essential Questions

"Poetry?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. I had to admit, I was not expecting that to be his first question. I guess I was expecting something more... general, or generic. Like "What's your favourite colour?" or "Do you have any siblings?" or even "What do you do for entertainment?".

Definitely not "Do you like poetry?"

Francis chuckled. "Oui. I always find that asking about poetry is a good way to get to know someone. At least, in my experience."

I thought for a moment. I still felt that it was a bit of an odd question, but he seemed genuinely curious about it, so hey - Poetry it was.

"I don't read poetry extensively - I'm more of a novel person myself - but I have a few favourites."

"Such as?"

"Lord Byron, Wordsworth, Keats. However, I feel that Shakespeare is a good start."

His face lit up a bit. "Ah, Shakespeare. He was an incredibly good poet and playwright. Have you ever seen any of his plays?"

I shook my head as I placed my wine on the table. "No, unfortunately not. My parents wouldn't let me go alone, but they also did not want to go themselves. They said that if my chauffeur, Michael, was willing to go with me, then I could go, but Michael being Michael took the opportunity to piss me off, and said no."

"That's a shame, mon ami," he replied sadly, "If you like his poetry, you would definitely like his plays."

"Have you seen any?"

"Oui. I've seen Much Ado About Nothing, Othello and Hamlet, but my favourite was Romeo and Juliet."

I made a face. I couldn't help it. Romeo and Juliet was definitely not one I had enjoyed reading.

"No. I can't stand Romeo and Juliet."

Francis looked as if he'd been slapped. Then he narrowed his eyes at me, and I couldn't tell if there was a playful manner to his gaze. "I thought you said that you hadn't seen any?"

I smiled. "Oui. But that doesn't mean I haven't read the play scripts. And out of all of the ones I had to read, Romeo and Juliet was my least favourite."

"How come, mon ami? It's a beautiful story of forbidden love; two star-crossed lovers, meeting by fate, and tragically losing their lives in the name of true love."

I snorted. "More like a story of childish mistakes made by two teenagers, barely old enough to understand what devastation they cause their families, all because they thought they were in love due to aesthetic attraction."

I emptied the rest of my glass as Francis stared at me for a long moment. As I had come to expect, the battle of emotions he was facing was written all over his face. Eventually, he sighed.

"I do believe that that is the most pessimistic outlook on Romeo and Juliet that I have ever heard."

"Really? I always thought it was a pretty obvious view to form while reading it."

He shook his head. For a moment, I thought he was annoyed, but when we made eye contact, he looked more confused and upset.

"I think that you have misunderstood the whole play, mon ami."

My eyes widened. "I think that you've misunderstood it. Just because the prologue talks about star-crossed lovers and fate, that doesn't mean that those themes are present throughout the play. They kiss less than two minutes after meeting and claim to be love - it's based off of aesthetic attraction, possibly shallow lust."