Bond girls, Pussy Galore and Xenia Onatopp, Fictional Names
From the Bond girls called Pussy Galore and Xenia Onatopp, to Master Bates of Dickens' Oliver Twist, there is no lack of double entendres in modern or classic fiction, and analysis shows that they fall into two distinct categories: overtly erotic and didactic. How and why each author, playwright, screenwriter, and the like choose their characters' names, we will never know in full, but identifying dual connotations can be enjoyable, and deducing their meaning is often enlightening, even imperative, for readers and viewers who desire to wholly grasp writers' intentions.
It requires little to no historical, literary, or linguistic knowledge in order to identify and interpret overtly erotic fictional character names. In addition to the Bond girls' names noted above, others include Holly Goodhead, Honey Rider, and Kissy Suzuki. One can almost imagine Ian Fleming, author of the 007 spy series, laughing so hardily at his own cleverness that the smoke he was known to regularly inhale was dispelled in massive plumes each time he named one of his girls. While the Bond films have been parodied numerous times, each with their own scantily-clad and erotically-named girls, none rivaled the popularity (and some might say hilarity) of Mike Myers' three Austin Powers pictures, and the girls called Felicity Shagwell and Foxxy Cleopatra did not disappoint fans of the more well-known spy series, who undoubtedly had high expectations for the girls. The title character of the third Austen Powers film, also one of the antagonists, has both a dualistic name and a dualistic nickname, respectively: Johan van der Smut, also known as Goldmember. This is notable, as blatantly sexual dualistic names seem to be less common for male characters.
[...] One cannot describe Dorian Gray better than to say that he is an invader of his own internal darkness, with a keen, unique sense of art and its significance. Oscar Wilde intended this twofold meaning, though many who read his work will never know it. James Joyce, too, used this linguistic maneuver to instruct readers about the nature of Michael Furey, Gretta Conroy's long lost love in Dead.” Furies, it must be noted, are earthbound spirits, “keepers of the blood of birth, sex, and death” in Greek mythology (Thornton 6). [...]
[...] Such a reader would be mistaken and overlook the significant import of the instructional double entendre. A comparable oversight could be made with the name of the protagonist in another of the world's most venerated novels: Feodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. In this weighty volume, Raskolnikov is known to be indifferent and reclusive, yet empathetic and desirous of companionship. He is a richly dichotomous being, which is just as it should be since his name is derived from the Russian word meaning split or schism. [...]
[...] Works Cited Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press Web March 2014. Thornton, Bruce S. Introduction: “Custom the King of All.” Eros: The Myth of Ancient Greek Sexuality. Colorado: Westview Press Print. [...]
[...] The latter seems far- fetched, but the character lives under the sea (in a pineapple), so it is difficult to know for certain. Someone in the under- ten set should be consulted for conclusive findings on this point. One thing is assured: when a survey of literature and pop culture spans monomaniacal love of the seventeen century, the still-relevant isolationism of one mid-ninteenth century mind, the hedonism of some in the mid-twentieth century, 1960s sexpots, and an early twenty-first century sponge, much will be deduced. Firstly, writers of all strips pay substantial consideration to naming their characters. [...]
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