There are lots of blogs out there about what’s in a name. Usually, I obsess over the naming of my characters, but in The Rogue And The Rival, I just picked two and was done with it. Oddly enough, I picked two perfectly meaningful names, as my dear friend Molly explains. Can you tell she has a masters degree in linguistics?
Several months ago, as Maya was musing to me about her process in writing The Rogue and The Rival, I had to comment on her artistry with names. I love the symbolism of names, and I think she does a wonderful job of playing with their meaning through both plot and character.
Let us consider our protagonists: Phillip, whose name comes from the ancient Greek work philos meaning love, and can be seen today in the incarnations of philosophy (love of knowledge) and philanthropy (love of humans), and our heroine, Angela, quite clearly a reference to the English angel but also has roots in the Latin engel.
Interestingly, Maya has contrasted these traditional gender roles. Our common concept of the angel is one of protector, guardian, even warrior–characteristics often attributed to men (especially in the Regency era), but as the book opens, it is Angela who is watching over Phillip.
On the other hand we have Phillip, representing love, a concept strongly tied to the emotional realm, and one that has been presided over by women ever since Plato put them into that box centuries ago. Once again, Maya has juxtaposed this symbolism with the name of her character, because we have Lord Phillip at the beginning of the novel just as unlovable and emotionally unavailable as ever.
Thematically, both our heroes have fallen from grace, each in accordance with the symbolism of their respective names: Angela in terms of social rules, and Philip by means of his reckless passion. These characters are balanced such that each has an abundance of what the other lacks. Angela excels where Philip falters morally, and we see that reckless abandon–philandering if you will–results in disaster. Damaged as a result of his own choices, Philip has to face the consequences of his outlandish behavior. Although loathe to admit it, Angela’s protection, and here adherence to her moral obligation, saves his life.
Meanwhile, Angela has fallen prey to society’s rules, given her ruined status, but also to the rigidity of her own decisions. She has reconciled herself to a life of strict worship, allying herself with God, as angels often do. As we learn more about her character, however, we see that the last thing she needs is more authority and more rules. It is not surprising then, when her own inner conflict results from her inexplicable attraction to Phillip’s devilish nature.
Maya’s characters tell a story of balance between the unlikely components of emotion and authority, passion and discipline, recklessness and devotion. Cleverly disguised with and style, these themes are weaved into the story with the first introduction of Angela and Phillip: that love need the protection of angels, and angels need loving hearts to fly.
