u/ZeMastor

I have entire libraries of songs in my head, and as I read the book, some of them just pop up randomly. A lyric adjustment here and there, and BOOM! Playlist!

(overall)

"Great Expectations" by Kiss

You've got great expectations /do you want to play the role?
You've got great expectations /you'd even sell me your soul
You've got great expectations /as long as you can play the role
You've got great expectations

(The song is not specifically about the book, but there are people who are "playing roles" and "selling their soul". Oh yeahhhhh.)

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"Part of Your World" ("The Little Mermaid" Soundtrack- Jodi Benson)

I’ve got hammers and bellows a-plenty, I’ve got anvils and horseshoes galore. You want 25 guineas? I’ve got twenty... But who cares? No big deal... I want MORE.

I want to be where the 'Gentle-folks' are, I want to see, want to see 'em dancin' Walking around on those—what do you call 'em? Oh—polished floors!

Up where they walk, up where they run, Up where they stay all day in the sun (no she doesn't) (or the dark of a rotting brewery) Wandering free, wish I could be... Part of That World!

(Pip standing at the gates of the Havisham estate, hoping to be let in. Bursts into song)

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"Poor Unfortunate Souls" ("The Little Mermaid" Soundtrack"- Pat Carroll)

Poor unfortunate soul
In pain, in need
This one longing to be "wiser"
And he wants to get the girl
And do I help him?

Yes, indeed! (and here's 25 guineas for the indenture)

(Miss H, sitting in her room, looking out the window at Pip standing at the gate. Picks up the gem on her dressing table, cackles as she peers through it. Estella stands nearby)

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"Too Much Time on My Hands" (Styx)

I got nothin' to do
With all day to do it
Well, I'd hang 'round, slouching, but I've no place to go
And all night to get there

Is it any wonder I'm not a criminal?
Is it any wonder I'm not in jail?

(Orlick, slouching around outside the "lee of a turnpike house". Says he spent his half-day off just "up and down town". Yep. nothing to see here. Just hanging out, waiting to rejoin Pip and Wopsle to go back to the village. Yep.)

OMG, this gets funnier and funnier! I didn't even realize the depth of this, until the mention that at "The Breakfast", Beauchamp thought that Danglars' (a mere Baron, and one made by the King) daughter was too low for Albert- that Albert should shoot higher- for a marchioness (the same title as the Saint-Merans)

Context:

In France, 1838, there were 2 types of Nobility:

1. Old Aristocracy. The ones that were nobility under the Ancien Regime. Bluebloods, through and through. They took pride in their ancient lines, studied their heraldry, could discuss the accomplishments of their ancestors centuries back. And took pride in their "sufferings" when the Revolution drove them out of France. These people would be VERY FUSSY about who their children married.

2. New Aristocracy. Under Napoleon and the Bourbon restoration, commoners could earn noble titles (but not as high as Marquis) through loyalty, acts of great courage and sacrifice for the country, or via service to the Emperor or the Crown. These were valid, registered titles, but they had the whiff of "Nouveau Riche".

The Humor:

Fernand was in category 2. He gained his title via service in the Army in the War in Spain. This was a perfectly good title, but Fernand went one step further... he faked and paid for a "family tree", associating his own line with a 5 centuries-old family of Morcerf. Albert, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, and believed it all.

Albert, bless his heart, passed himself off as the scion of the "blue-blooded" Morcerfs, and his friends had no reason to investigate. They liked him, his father Count de Morcerf was a legitimate Count, so his claim was all accepted and they'd go off and drink, or go shooting together and have boys night out. All is well....

Any Marquis and Marchioness in 1838 had to be legacy nobility, or descendants of legacy nobility. Raised from the cradle in that world, even in exile. Every action they took, the way they spoke, their lived knowledge... was all real. So if ever Fernand encountered a Marquis and Wife, he knew enough to "pass" for a short while- at a party, or on a social call. But to be tethered to them by marriage ties means constant proximity. And more chances to slip up...

The Irony:

if Fernand was simply honest about being a Count, made by the Crown in 1822-ish via service, he could have shopped around, and maybe found a Napoleonic or Restoration-era Count's daughter for Albert. That would be valid, and the girls' family would go, "Ah, yes, the Comte de Morcerf- just like us. New Nobility through Service. All is well."

By reaching too high, Fernand's claim would be scrutinized and thoroughly investigated. Old Nobility would be checking for a scammer- one that would "pollute" their line. New Nobility would wonder why a 500 year old family was interested in their daughter... "lowering themselves" so they'd also be investigating...

Because of his lie (the fake family tree), Fernand ensured that there was only ONE family that Albert could marry into. Danglars' family! Danglars knew who Fernand was- a peasant Catalan fisherman, up-jumped to a general and a Count through fortuitous circumstances. Danglars (bringing money to the marriage) was motivated to keep quiet. His daughter, Eugenie was "marrying up". Fernand's secret would be his secret too.

https://preview.redd.it/msu8l2tpozwg1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ee2735cacf10fcd3103e10eab6840853505df452

You can tell the level of scholarship and loving care towards the source when the advertising blurb quotes the 2002 movie (Caviezel) which has this speech, became an internet meme, became quotable, and is now (head desk) forever associated with "The Count of Monte Cristo" and Dumas never wrote it.

The text is, predictably, Chapman & Hall, yet someone wants $9.99 in pure profit for doing... nothing.