Shakespeare References in Monsieur Pamplemousse Afloat

Michael Bond's Monsieur Pamplemousse Afloat contains a few Shakespeare references. The first is a reference to The First Part Of King Henry The Fourth. Bond writes, "Discretion being the better part of valour, Monsieur Pamplemousse decided not to pursue the subject" (p. 58). That is a reference to Falstaff's line, "The better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life." The next reference is to As You Like It, with Monsieur Pamplemousse reciting, "Blow, blow thou winter wind, thou art not so unkind as man's ingratitude" (p. 114). That comes from a song in Act II Scene vii. Bond continues: "It was one of only two English quotations he could remember from his school days" (p. 114). The person Monsieur Pamplemousse is speaking with doesn't catch the reference, and so Pamplemousse says, "Shakespeare" (p. 115). The other character responds: "Yeah? I might have known. That's the kind of thing he would say" (p. 115). Interestingly, the other Shakespeare reference is not actually a Shakespeare reference at all, but a mistake by the author. Bond writes: "He was in the act of bracing himself when he recalled the other Shakespearean quotation he had learned as a boy. 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'" (p. 163). That is not, in fact, a Shakespearean quotation. The line comes from a William Congreve play from the late 1600s. Bond then writes: "Monsieur Pamplemousse felt sure that had he found himself in a similar situation, Shakespeare would have reached very much the same conclusion. He might even have dreamed up a suitable quotation as he put his boot through the door" (p. 163).

Monsieur Pamplemousse Afloat was published in 1998.