Folklore as classic novels, a thread

Disclaimer:

TW// depression/ suicide, although I try not to directly mention it

Most of these books I‘ve read, but some not for a very long time, & a couple I have only seen adaptations of so if there are any wrong recounting don’t judge me too harshly. Also, spoilers I guess?

the 1- The Great Gatsby

While the line “roarin’ 20s” did have a large impact on my association of this song with this novel, it’s certainly not the only piece of juxtaposition that can be made. The pinning, the dreaming of a different fate, the inability to let go, the

certainty of her being the one for him, all scream poor old Gatsby. “I hit the ground running each night” is a total parallel to the extravagant parties he threw, both in hopes of forgetting Daisy and in hopes of possibly running into her. But in the end “if you wanted me you

really should have showed,“ you should have chosen him over Tom Miss Daisy, and you certainly shouldn’t have framed him for murder which led to his own unfortunate murder

cardigan- Peter Pan

I’m gonna be honest here, I have never actually read Peter Pan so this analysis is based on the movie so I hope they’re similar. Anyways Peter Pan, no surprise here. I picture cardigan as being from Tinker Bell’s perspective though. Tinker Bell was mighty

jealous when Wendy came into the picture & started hogging all of her one on one time with Peter. And we all know how Peter never grew up. But Tinker Bell bided her time before Wendy was out of the picture as “I knew you’d come back to me” as he put her on like “an old cardigan”

the last great american dynasty-
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

You thought I would choose The Great Gatsby for this one, didn’t you? Didn’t want to be too predictable so we’re going with something a little unexpected. Little Alice fell down a rabbit hole and wound up in a

whole new world filled with very interesting characters who did not particularly like her and her unusual ways. Having tea with the Hater surely made her the “maddest woman” and she really pissed off the Red Queen so “she had a marvelous time ruining everything.” Might I add that

after Alice came and went, Taylor herself showed up in Wonderland in 1989 just like she showed up at Holiday House after Rebekah.

exile- A Tale of Two Cities

This epic story of love, courage, and personal discoveries features a male character who actually is exiled from his home, not just in the metaphorical sense. Charles Darnay denounces the name of his French aristocratic family due to their snobbish

and insensitive dispositions during a period of increased poverty and starvation among of the poor in France, and he migrates to London as a new man with no name or money. A whirlwind of events occurs from there with him being put on trial as a spy, engaging in a love triangle,

inheriting his family fortune, and eventually being sentenced to death by guillotine during the French Revolution which he only survives through a feat of trickery. Not much relation to the song other than that, but I feel like it deserves the spot still

my tears ricochet- Wuthering Heights

Ah Heathcliff and Catherine, probably one of the most toxic and twisted relationships in literary history. A love filled with dramatics, backstabbing, manipulation, and very unhealthy codependency issues, one could certainly describe

Heathcliff’s infatuation with Catherine as an obsession, just as Taylor describes the position of the man in her song. Not to say that Catherine did not have a very heavy hand in the fucked-upness of the whole relationship, including her marriage to another man despite loving

Heathcliff, but going off the narrative of the song Heathcliff certainly fills the role perfectly. Dude literally digs up Catherine’s grave after she dies lmao. And it’s hard not to get chills viewing the parallel between the below quote and Taylor haunting voice as she sings

“you know I don’t want to haunt you/ but what a ghostly scene.”

mirrorball- Little Women

I think it have to go with Little Women. I think Jo is really reflective in this song and her struggles as a woman growing up in a male dominated world, put up against expectations that she could never fill. Always standing on her tip toes trying to

get the most out of her world before she would eventually be shut out. I also think all the March sisters reflect each side of the line, “I’ll show you every version of yourself tonight” because of their contrasting personalities and emotions. Combined, the sisters are a

mirrorball that form one woman and all her complex sides and possibilities. How different we are, and how we are forced to put ourselves into a box to fit societal standards. But when we’re alone, we let it all out and just marvel in our own beauty.

seven- The Secret Garden

The is so much to say about the similarities to these two works but I’m going to try and keep it short. Mary is one of the greatest characters ever written in my opinion. A young girl living in India (!!!) as a neglected and sour child moves to the

Yorkshire Moors after both her parents die. There, she discovers both the rejuvenating and omnipotent power of nature as she learns how to be a real child who is free, happy, and healthy, and also learns about friendship and the beautiful connections you can make with another.

Spending her days eating porridge, skipping rope, and weeding in her secret garden, Mary truly captures the line “Please picture me in the weeds/ before I learned civility”

August- Madame Bovary

In this scandal ridden novel, young Emma finds herself married to a particularly dull and listless man named Charles who has inherited a considerable fortune from his dead wife. Emma, soon bored with her new luxurious life and her eventual role as mother,

finds herself in not one but two affairs with other men at different times in her marriage. However, the first man ends their affair in a harsh and dejecting way after she asked him to run away with him. Only leaving a note to tell her of his departure. After some time she takes

up a second affair with a man who brings out a wave of passion and love in her. But over time that passion fizzles out and they become annoyed with one another. She truly “lived for the hope of it all,” the dream of escaping her dull marriage for some passionate love affair that

only ended in heartbreak since they were never really hers.

this is me trying- The Bell Jar

Oh boy, we’re about to get into it. The Bell Jar, an almost autobiography, chronicles the life of young Ester who moves to the city with big dreams of becoming a writer. Well, she soon learns that life doesn’t always work out that way,

especially for a woman, and everything goes quite downhill from there. Struggling with fitting in with the rambunctious and promiscuous city girls, but also struggling with fitting in with the “proper” expectations of women, Esther finds herself in an in between existence where

she isn’t enough of one or the other to truly fit in. She quickly spirals into a severe depressive episode and eventually has to be institutionalized because of her intense feeling of, as she describes it, being stuck inside a bell jar with little air. The end of the novel finds

her feeling freer from the pressures of society, with hope for the future and the possibly of a reemergence into world to continue the pursuit of her goals. “At least I’m trying”

illicit affairs- The Picture of Dorian Gray

We could go two ways with this one. One, the relationship between Dorian and Lord Henry. And two, the relationship between Dorian and his portrait. On one hand, this illicit affair can be a parallel to the deep homoeroticism of

Henry and Dorian’s encounters and the “corruption” of the beautiful Dorian by Henry’s very cynical and hedonist views of life. On the other hand, this clandestine meeting which spirals into heartbreak and disaster could be reflective of Dorian’s absolute obsession with his

portrait which is a reflection of his quickly darkening soul as he participates in much sin and debauchery, even murder. The thrill of doing as you please being “A drug that only worked the first few hundred times” as he soon realizes the corruption of his innocence and youth

invisible strings- Les Misérables

When I think of the word fate, specially a string of fate that ties two people together, I think of Les Misérables. The tie between Jean and Javert throughout the story, their fates intertwined as they are seemingly destined to be each other’s

end is both beautiful and haunting. The conflicting tones of morality and justice, right and wrong, found in both of them which makes their relationships so complex is just a different way to look at the positive love approach Taylor takes to this concept. Plus the lines

“Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire/ chains around my demons” makes me think of the joy and love Cosette brought into Jean’s life, making him a better man.

mad woman- Jane Eyre

Bertha, a character almost universally sympathized with by female readers everywhere. Locked away by her dickwad of a husband for long debated reasons ranging from him getting bored of her to her sufferring from a mental illness, but either way she does

end up going seemingly mad from the isolation. He happily tries to marry another woman despite his literal marriage to her, bringing a whole new meaning to the line “the master of spin has a couple side flings,” and she reacts very well to it, if I do say so myself, by burning

down his house and blinding him permanently. “They strike to kill, and you know I will.”

epiphany- All Quiet On the Western Front

A heart wrenching account of a German soldier’s experience in the rich man’s war that was WWI. Watching each one of your childhood friends get gunned down in a foreign land, suffering from malnutrition and improper clothing, and the

never ending trauma of a winless war. And in the end, it was all for nothing. Left with only the shattered memories of a childhood cut too soon, and the unforgettable horrors of the worst side of the human race. “With you I serve, with you I fall down, down”

betty- Pride and Prejudice

One cannot help but think back on Darcy’s last attempt to win Elizabeth’s favor with that letter, given to her after one awkward and shy encounter, when listening to James shake with nerves as he stands on Betty’s porch with his heart on his sleeve

dreaming of how it will all go down. In that suspended moment of potential, the possibility of the situation going either way, right before she reads the letter or opens the door. “Right now is the last time/ I can dream of what happens when/ you see my face again.” They both had

a lot of graveling and explanations to give, knowing they fucked up but giving it one last chance to see if that hope could blossom under the fingertips of love. I am way more on team Darcy then team James though.

peace- Njal’s Saga

I don’t know what it is but something about peace just screams Iceland to me so here we are, with an Icelandic saga. An epic story filled with love, family feuds, murder, and exile (maybe I should have used this for exile, oh well), this novel is all about

the ups and downs of family life and the strength of blood. “Never give you peace” indeed, as vengeance is a large part of the story and there is continued back and worth bloodshed as payment for a former wrong, “Sit with in the trenches.” But love perserves until the end

hoax- A Streetcar Named Desire

This is technically a play but you can read it in a book so it counts to me. Blanche finds herself moving into her sister’s very small apartment after loosing her job as a teacher. There, she strikes up a relationship with a friend named Mitch,

and they quickly grow close. However, Blanche has a lot of very scandalous secrets as to why she had to move in with her sister including a dead husband, a try at prostitution, and an affair with one of her students. When these secrets get revealed, Mitch promptly breaks up

with her in disgust and she has a mental snap which leads to her being institutionalized. Hoax kind of reminds me of this relationship because of the amount of secrets Blanche was keeping, making it not a true relationship. And she really hurt Mitch with her betrayal. Also “no

other sadness in the world would do” reminds me of Blanches constant mood swings and teetering over the edge throughout the play that hinted at her eventual breakdown.

the lakes- The Sorrows of Young Werther

Sad poets indeed, my dear Werther truly did look at the Windermere peaks and thought they were a perfect place to cry. Or at least the German version of them. A novel born from a wave of existentialism which went on to influence the

Romantic movement, this story is filled to the brim with the beauty of nature being a reminder of the fruitless mortality of life. Young Wether decides to live in a small town in order to find inspiration and serenity for his paintings. There he meets a lovely young woman named

Charlotte whom he promptly falls in love with and considers his muse. Tragically, she is engaged with another and Werther spends his days trying to get any attention he can from her. He wrote her beautiful letters and thought of her always. And when she finally got married and he

was forbidden from seeing her anymore by her husband, he took that to mean that his life was forfeit and promptly committed suicide.