Shakespeare References in Death In Paradise

Kate Flora’s mystery novel Death In Paradise contains several Shakespeare references. The first is a reference to The Tempest. Flora writes: “Maybe none of us would get any answers. Maybe Billy had vanished into thin air” (p. 181). She then continues: “That’s something I’ve always wondered about – expressions like that. Why thin air? When I’m running on too little sleep and too much tension, my mind tends to wander to questions like this” (p. 181). The reference is to Prospero’s speech from Act IV, where he says, “These our actors,/As I foretold you, were all spirits and/Are melted into air, into thin air.” What is interesting here is that our narrator, Thea Kozak, does not mention Shakespeare. At this point, I would guess that the character is not familiar with Shakespeare, not knowing where that expression originated. But then there are several more references that show she is clearly fairly well-versed in Shakespeare’s work.

The next reference comes not too long after that first, and is to Hamlet. Flora writes: “They didn’t need to hear this, and I risked my protests having the opposite effect – the ‘methinks she doth protest too much’ problem” (p. 193). That is a reference to the Queen’s line during the play within the play sequence, “The lady protests too much, methinks.” Yet here the narrator doesn’t get the line quoted precisely, so I’m still not convinced she has extensive knowledge of the plays. However, the next reference is to Richard The Third, and she quotes a longer passage: “Lord, Lord! methought, what pain it was to drown:/What dreadful noise of waters in my ears!/What sights of ugly death within my eyes!/Methoughts I saw a thousand fearful wracks;/A thousand men that fishes gnawed upon’” (p. 224). Just before Thea quotes those lines, Flora writes: “Long-forgotten words came tumbling out. College Shakespeare. The most exciting teacher I’d ever had. Obviously, I’d carried the fear of drowning with me then, as well” (p. 224). And following the quoted passage, she writes: “That stopped her. ‘What on earth is that?’ she asked, turning to stare at me” (p. 224). Thea responds, “‘Richard III, I think.” The other character asks: “Shakespeare? At a time like this?” Then Flora writes: “‘Seemed to fit at the moment.’ I didn’t bother to tell her that it was always time for Shakespeare. Shakespeare and the Bible” (p. 224). Soon after that, there is another reference to The Tempest: “Without opening my eyes, I said, ‘Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made: Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change into something rich and strange’” (p. 225). This time the other person recognizes the lines: “‘The Tempest,’ she said. ‘Have you gone mad?’” (p. 225). The lines are sung by Ariel in Act I. Anyway, Thea responds, “Suffered a sea-change.”

The next reference is to The Winter’s Tale. Flora writes: “Through some strange correspondence in my brain, the thought called forth another bit of Shakespeare. ‘Thou mettest with things dying, I with things newborn.’ A Winter’s Tale. Yet both were met in me” (p. 258). The Shepherd speaks that line in Act III. There is then another reference to Hamlet: “The infuriatingly helpless feeling of being poked and prodded and questioned when I was too weak to answer. Hamlet had it right with those musings about the problems with sleep and the fear of dreams” (p. 270). The book’s final Shakespeare reference is to The First Part Of King Henry The Fourth. Flora writes, “Still, as they say, discretion is the better part of valor” (p. 289). The “they” in this instance is Falstaff, and Falstaff says “The better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life.”

Death In Paradise was published in 1998. The copy I read was a First Edition from October 1998.