What's in a Name?

[Gum Gnome33]

I've been reading "Why Buffy Matters," by Rhonda Wilcox. There's a fascinating chapter called "I think I Can Name Myself" in which she discusses the significance of names in the 'verse and their specific implications on the show. She suggests that each name is chosen for a reason and that it is not a coincidence, for example, if we notice that Cordelia Chase tends to resemble King Lear's daughter with the same moniker. I just wanted to quote some really interesting sections for you:

"Faith, of course, is a literary allusion as well as a symbol: one of the most famous examples of symbolic nomenclature comes from...'Young Goodman Brown,' another narrative which contemplates the supernatural: (his) young wife Faith finds her way to the side of demons and witches in the dark forest....at the end of the story, readers are unsure of whether or not Faith is genuinely fallen. For Buffy's Faith...(she) doubts her own goodness--or believes that she is evil. She eventually finds faith in herself ...Faith is a shadow and foil for Buffy, as is Buffy's best friend Willow, often called Will..."

"With a dangerous desire for control repeated and emphasized over the years...as in the episode "Something Blue" in which Willow enacts a spell to have her 'Will done.'"

"Faith and Buffy both have a guardian in Angel...While Will wants control in her relationships, Angel is forced to exert control over himself..."

"Buffy's sister, too, fits into the symbolic category....Dawn, not just light, but more truly the borderline between night and day, a liminal place with which Buffy as a character more and more clearly comes to associate."

"...Three major characters, then, all share forms of the name William...'(William and Willow are) both trying to reinvent themselves as no longer geeky, sensitive outcasts...So is Spike Willow's double or her shadow or the embodiment of her desire for Buffy?' This parallel does not, however, apply to the never-geeky Angel/Liam...William means 'a willing protector'; this meaning...could be said to apply at some points in the plot to Spike, Angel, and Willow...

The notable episode 'Lie to Me' contains another significant William--Billy Fordham...(this further serves to point out) the overall William-Will-Liam-Willy(Billy) naming pattern. I would argue that one effect of the pattern is to remind viewers, on some level, of the connections between the bad guys and the good guys--and the fact that any of us could cross that line...
...Spike, Angel, and Willow are perhaps the most notable examples in the Buffyverse of characters who are capable of memorable good or vicious evil."

Cool, huh? Anything with regard to name patterns that you noticed?

 

[zobothehobo]

I didn't realize Willow was a form of William. I'm like freaking with happiness there

 

[Chosen Enemy]

Yes, very cool. And interesting. Never thought of those. Besides Angel-angelic face.
I always wondered about Fred's name. I know the full name is Winifred, but does her name have a reason, or were her parents just mean?

I love the Willow-will, to have her will done!

 

[forget]

That's really amazing....I never thought of it all that way. Of course, I knew some of the names had a reason behind why they were chosen, like Angel, being kind of obvious. But I didn't know that many of them had this whole philosophy behind them.

Now what about BUFFY? 😉

 

[wickedtiger86]

I actually read King Lear a couple years ago and made the Cordelia connection myself. I felt really smart. 😀

This is really really interesting though.

And I caught this one when I was reading twelfth night. That whole story is set in a place called Illyria.

Obviously Joss digs his Shakespeare.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

Now what about BUFFY? 😉

Probably to make people laugh 😀

No, but I know the reason Joss chose this name. He wanted a name that when someone says it, they will immediately think about his show. Because it's very uncommon and no other shows had it.

 

[Kean]

Lets not forget Willy the Snitch 😉

 

[wickedtiger86]

[MENTION]Chosen Enemy [/MENTION]agrees: JM too, Shakespeare

Oh great! Now, I have to love this guy even more!!

😀

 

[Kean]

I actually read King Lear a couple years ago and made the Cordelia connection myself. I felt really smart. 😀

Yeah, I think there is a lot of King Lear in the Buffyverse. To me, Buffy and Angel alternate as Lear himself, Xander is Gloucester, Connor is Edmund, and Giles/Wesley are Kent.

For instance, the scene in Empty Places where they kick Buffy out strikes me so true of the scene of Lear being banished into the Tempest by Regan and Goneril.

Or when Xander get his eye gouged out, "Out vile jelly! Where is they luster now!"

And there is Connor, and his campaign against his father, "Now Gods! Stand up for bastards!".

 

[wickedtiger86]

Yeah, I think there is a lot of King Lear in the Buffyverse. To me, Buffy and Angel alternate as Lear himself, Xander is Gloucester, Connor is Edmund, and Giles/Wesley are Kent.

For instance, the scene in Empty Places where they kick Buffy out strikes me so true of the scene of Lear being banished into the Tempest by Regan and Goneril.

Or when Xander get his eye gouged out, "Out vile jelly! Where is they luster now!"

And there is Connor, and his campaign against his father, "Now Gods! Stand up for bastards!".

Very very awesome thoughts! I may have to re-read the play now since I mostly just remember the bare-bones of the story. I remember really enjoying it though.

And I do remember Gloucester enough to really get the Xander parallel. And the idea of Buffy and Angel alternating as Lear. Very very interesting . . .