Nick Scipio's Summer Camp: Shakespeare as a name source?

Shakespeare as a name source?

Introduction

When I had published the analyse "Missy's name — only coincidences?", some forum members sent me comments like "nice try", "amazing reading" but most expressed disbelieve and some even laughed out loud, "why Trip and Wren should name her daughter after Kendall's mother?" The answer is easy now since Nick told to the forum the name of Trip's mother — It is only a coincidence. Though, I had a further look into names. For the inspiration to this analyse I have to credit jstltl, who pointed me out on Rusty. (Thanks.)

For the understanding of this analyse I presume, that you've heard about my theory of deja-vu scenes and mirrored situations. Nick once said, that for researching the names in his stories he is using www.behindthename.com, so the use of that website in this analyse is legitime.

Please note also, that the introduction of Christy and Wren into this tale was made in four steps. Firstly, they were described only how they looked and behaved. Several chapters later the reader learns their first names, Christy and Wren — actually young Miss Hilliard's middle name (!). The names of the Carmichael and Hilliard families got revealed even later. The information about the second given name is withheld until the fourth step of introduction, more than halfway down into Summer Camp, Book 3. This proceeding is not only increasing the tense the reader feels, but also shows, that both characters are significantly important for Paul's further life. From the knowledge we have now, after book 3 came to an end, no other plausible reason is visible, why Wren is using her second name as call name — except for the certain possibility, that she likes Wren more than the Germanic Lorelei. Remind, that also Trip's son is called by his middle name, "Davis", not by his first name, Franklin.

Let us now look to some different aspects of namegiving in the saga.

Groups of characters.

Before chapter 26 was posted, I had claimed in the forum, that the characters appearing in Knoxville can be divided into three groups: students, partygoers, and staff. This categorization might be too simple, but is sufficient for this analyse. We have Paul, Kendall, Gina, Trip, Abby, Christy, Wren, Zoë and Ash, but also Luke, T. J., and Billy in the group of students. They — it appears — seriously attend lessons at UT. (It could be objected, that for certain named persons we only can presume that statement, but that's not the point here.) Please note, that some of them play a special role, which is to be analyzed elsewhere. Nevertheless, it can be summarized, that in Nick's story the male students are doing "cash majors" while the girls are studying "arts", but both Wren and Billy are exceptions from this rule, as well as Kendall, Gina, and Abby. Regan fits in this group, but for some reason she is in another.

On the opposite we have the Greeks, those characters, which appearantly have more the interest to party, than to study. This group is composed by the strong negative characters Rod, Neil, Hayley-slut and — on the first sight — Regan. Also part of this group are Margot, Jessica, and Rusty. In this second group at least one person is different from the others, Jessica, but also Rusty stands on the brighter side of life. Regan's party is a key moment in the story, but so far all discussions on chapter 14 were focussing on the use of cocaine. Jessica had three major appearances in SC 3; during Regan's party, at the airport (when the girls returned from Vermont) and during the Damned Night at the Hilton. In all three scenes, her behaviour was different to the other girls. Paul talked with her and had sympathies. Gina told, that Jessica wasn't rich, maybe she has to work hard for her study and to hold her scholarship. Jessica is in this question kind of counterpart to Kendall.

Finally, as the last group to name, remains the staff of UT, persons like e.g. Wade Snow, Cary, and Paul's professors. They will be ignored in this paper.

Yet is to be said, that I left out some further supporting characters, which aren't important in my analyse and maybe as well in this part of the story, e.g. Faith, Samantha and the other team leaders, or people from Atlanta.

Non Greeks	Greeks	Staff
Paul Trip Kendall Christy Wren	Rod Neil Hayley-slut Gina Regan Jessica Margot	Wade Snow Joska Cary

With the beginning of SC 3, for a certain group of characters a middle name was introduced. These have been long known persons like Kendall Lynn Payton, Gina Nicole Coulter, and Paul Dean Hughes, but also characters we met at UT for the first time, e.g. Trip (Franklin Davis) and some of the suitemates of Gina, Paul, and Kendall, but also Wren and Christy.

Because some of the forum members asked politely, Nick told us the complete names of Melissa Lark Whitman and Emily Anne Hughes, children of Trip resp. Paul. Please keep these names in mind. You might read the analyse about the particular name elements in Missy's name before you continue here.

Groups of names.

Several characters bear names with an origin in Greek and German mythology, e.g. Melissa Payton and Lorelei Hilliard (Wren) while others have names with sources in Old English / Irish / Celtic language, including Kendall (first and middle name!), Aisling (Ash), and Siobhan. Siobhan does not only remind on Susan, there is more. Her family name O'Riordan is just so much Irish how Susan's family name MacLean can be Scottish. A coincidence? The name Siobhan is a variation of Susan. Again a coincidence? And, is it even another coincidence, that Siobhan is a mentor for Christy, while Susan is the same to Paul? A triple coincidence? Can a logical thinking man be affirmative in all three points?

Last but not least, there is a bunch of characters, whose names don't belong to one of the groups introduced above. They can be put in some additional (sub)groups. For example persons with a name phonetically appearing to be French. French name components are not uncommon for people from the south of the US or from Canada. People in this group are either Western Art professors (Geraldine Dubois and Eugénie Bertrand) or suitemates, that is Luke Deveraux (Trip), Vivian Fouvrier (Kendall), Zoë Baranski (Wren/Christy). Yep. We just discovered something really interesting, we will see that later. [A group member pointed out, that Zoë originally is a Greek name (sic!), but the ë indeed is commonly used in French language, e.g. in Citroën — note here, that the French form of the name is Zoé]. There is yet another suitemate, Valerie Blankenship (Regan) — Valérie in French.

Mythology	Celtic/Irish Old English	French
Melissa Lorelei	Kendall Siobhan Hayley Aisling Regan	Eugénie Geraldine Zoë/Zoé Valerie

In an earlier message I wrote about the triple appearance of persons with an R-name during the Damned Night in the Hilton — Rod, Regan, and Rusty. That collection is significantly similar to the bunch of the Jordan family members in SC 1 and 2, all of them having the same initials like the outlaw Jesse James: John, Jessica (sic!), Jenny, Jill, Jackie, and John jr. — but was that really just for fun? Stay tuned for further parts of the saga!

Are these the only roots for the names Nick used in "Summer Camp"?

The answer isn't like black and white but like many things in SC 3 a coloured shade of grey. On the first sight, the names Regan, Jessica, Margot (a short for Margaret), and — Nick, the writer's pen-name, don't have anything in common. Let us add yet Adam and the often-cited Polonius on this list before we ask for for common aspects of these names. The answer is surprising. You Got It? Yes, these are all characters who appeared in plays by William Shakespeare.

"What?", you might ask. Is the author of this analyse pulling our leg? Please, I am serious. Let us have a look on characters by William Shakespeare and in which plays they appeared.

Character	Role	Play
Adam Nick Jessica Regan Polonius Margot Laurence Reynaldo Nathaniel Emily (Emilia) Phoebe Rod	servant weaver converting daughter little sister chief councillor 4 appearances as Friar (= brother) 2 appearances 2 appearances 3 appearances shepherdess Phebe Roderigo	As You Like It A Midsummer Night's Dream The Merchant From Venice King Lear Hamlet a.o. The Merry Wives of Windsor / Much Ado About Nothing Romeo and Juliet Hamlet / All's Well That Ends Well Taming of the Shrew / Love's Labour's Lost The Comedy of Errors / Othello / The Winter's Tale As You Like It Othello

Can one really expect, that "Summer Camp" is like an aggregated porn version of a bunch of Shakespeare plays? And if so, which of Shakespeare plots influenced "Summer Camp"?

The Merchant from Venice.

A research at www.behindthename.com shows, that for the first time the name Jessica was used in this form in "The Merchant from Venice" (actually this statement was the reason why I did this analyse). This play is also by the man from Stratford-upon-Avon. The character in Shakespeare's play converted from a Jew to a Christian. Jessica Jordan converted from a photo model into a lawyer's wife with five children. Can we expect a converting Jessica, leaving Chi O, because she wants to be with Paul? In that case we have to discover the missing link between Lorenzo, Jessica's husband in Shakespeare's play, and Paul. If one only knew better about Shakespeare!

It should not be forgotten, that in "Summer Camp" is existing a hint of a religious converting; Christy has sympathies for Buddhism since her time in Japan.

Concerning Jessica exists yet another switch. I am not sure if I read the pattern correctly, but I believe that Jenny (Manfred's former girlfriend), Felicia, and Jessica Roedeffer are also fitting in a common category: They're all (kind of) "Give-Me-A-Call-Girls". Jenny did it, Felicia said it, and Jessica stated, "I could also stand to get laid." Very obvious!

Hamlet.

Polonius was a windbag, is the quote Paul is being told by his father at the beginning of his time at UT. I didn't understand the quote Paul's father used. I mean, I more or less know, what's the intention, but not exact and that makes me nervous. I couldn't come up with a German translation online. (And who would like to buy and read the whole Hamlet because of one quote only!)

The end of Polonius is tragic (as common in Shakespeare's works). Hamlet was jealous and thought it may be Claudius standing behind the curtain when he stabbed Polonius.

Nick's comment on the first posting of this analyse was, "if I wrote this like 'Hamlet', only T.J. and Glen would be alive at the end of it!" Later the author of this analyse concluded that parallels to all the deaths in Shakespeare's works might be in 'Summer Camp' a 'ending' of a relationship.

King Lear.

Regan is a character in King Lear. She is the younger treacherous daughter of the King. Younger daughter — that means she has a Big Sister. Sure she has, Goneril, she is also treacherous. We all know the name of Regan's Big Sister in Chi O: Hayley-slut. Is Goneril a symbol for Hayley-slut? Is the Gina-Paul-Kendall relationship in reality an adaption of the Regan-Edmund-Goneril triangle in "King Lear"?

It should also be mentioned, that Regan can be understood as a variant of the name Reagan (By the way, this was even suggested when Gina first told Paul about Regan and he asked "Like the President?"), derived from "descendent of Raigan". The name Raigan means "little king" in Gaelic. Gina can be a short for Regina, a Late Latin name meaning "queen". Have we to understand Gina and Regan like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

Yet there is to mention one thing; from the plot summarization at Wikipedia: "Meanwhile, Goneril, and Regan fall out with one another over their attraction to Edmund (Rod?) — and are forced to deal with an army from France, led by Cordelia, sent to restore Lear to his throne." LOL! An army from France = Valérie, Vivian, et. al.? (A double 'V' as in a double 'victory'?) It shall not be forgotten, that Gina is a short form for Regina, reign, a synonym for Queen or King. Will they restore Paul to his reign? Not very likely, indeed, but still possible.

Destination vs. Destiny.

Shakespeare's works as a source for characters in Nick Scipio's "Summer Camp" saga, seems not to be disputable. Or, in other words, Nick knows his Shakespeare. The influence of Shakespeare's works in total as a source even for parts of the plots (or subplots) is yet to be examined, certainly by a more competent person, regarding English literature. Nick once said, that Akira Kurosawa's "Ran" (1985) is one of his most-liked movies. "Ran" is basically an adapted "King Lear".

The second name of Paul's daughter Emily, Anne gives one reason more for speculation; Shakespeare's wife was named Anne — and she was several years older then the author (sic!)

For coming to the end of my analyze about Shakespeare: a character in "As You Like It" is Orlando — and this is closing the circle to my earlier analyse about Missy. Melissa was the Nymph which rescued Rogero of Alcina in "Orlando Furioso". But Orlando is also a town in Florida and Florida plays a — so far — very subtle role in "Summer Camp". Paul's grandparents are living in Gainesville, the university town, where Rod graduates. We know, that David likes to fly down there and, I rather end now, 'end' as in 'destination', before I start a rant about the Hilliard's condo in Destin at the Florida panhandle, at the end of a peninsula separating Okaloosa Bay from the Gulf of Mexico. (That actually the story of swinging began on a journey to the end on another peninsula, Baja California, insults the idea, that Paul's and The Wife's destiny get fulfilled even on this place, the "The World's Luckiest Fishing Village")

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in it". Hamlet, Act 2 Sc.ii.

Diagram of Character Relationships in "King Lear"

Source: http://www.wxs.ca/lear/

For further reading see wikipedia articles:

See also:
King Lear, by William Shakespeare, at Project Gutenberg
Diagram of character relationships in King Lear, as well as short explanations.
Shakespearian Characters Alphabetically, at www.behindthename.com
Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, at Project Gutenberg.
Orlando Furioso, by Ariosto, at Project Gutenberg.
Orlando Furioso, by Ariosto (Italian), at Project Gutenberg.

Story index. — Missy's name — Is SC a Shakespeare adaption? — Summer Camp review index.

Last revised: April 16th, 2006
The Summer Camp Universe and its characters are © 2002-2006 Nick Scipio
This text © 2005-2006 FranzKafka79
"Lear" graphic provided under Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Canada rules.