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Dear Penny,
Van mentions Vere de Vere in the
swimming pool scene (1.32), not when he beats up Percy at the picknick.
Van's other rival, the German musician Philip Rack (of whom
Van would never think that he is Ada's lover), participates in that
scene.
The dever'/de Vere connection didn't
occur to me (not that it doesn't exist). The stress in the Russian
word is on the first syllable and the closing "soft" consonant is
pronounced differently, though. By the way, I know that "De Vere" is an
old English family name, but Ada's Vere de Vere might be also connected
to Vert-Vert, the parrot in Gresset's eponymous poem. Can there be yet
other interpretations of that teasingly suggestive name?
I certainly would be interested to
read your paper if you send it to me as an email (skylark05@mail.ru).
best,
Alexey