#The Greek class

[macaulaytwins]

the Greek class during dinner:

Henry: eats slowly and very clinically, almost like it’s a dissection, very rarely gets a second plate despite his size, will smoke at the table towards the end of the meal— almost like he was trying to hold out as long as he could but eventually gave in, subconciously sits at the head of the table

Richard: hesitant to eat as much as he wanted when he first started dining with the Greek class, became a more ravenous eater towards the end of the novel like he was afraid it would spoil in front of him, doesn’t smoke at the table, always drinks a little too much while eating and feels nauseous after

Camilla: elbows on the table, her food touches and mixes and it doesn’t bother her, never talks while chewing but keeps conversation going during a meal, almost always gets a modest second helping, admonishes Charles for not eating his vegetables, near excessive use of salt and pepper

Francis: under-eats due to nicotine consumption or anxiety, constantly shifts positions in his chair, smokes at the table, pushes his food around his plate, talks the most during dinner, sits next to Henry and is the one who can draw him into conversation with the most ease

Charles: elbows on the table, rarely eats his greens but always finishes what’s on his plate, talks with his mouth full but swears he doesn’t, almost always gets a second helping, rolls his eyes at Francis and Henry smoking at the table but drinks the most at dinner of any of them

Bunny: grew up with all his brothers so he takes heaping helpings of food even if he’s not particularly hungry, eats his veggies, not a lot of table manners, chronically talks with his mouth full and Henry tells him off for it causing Bunny to point out his smoking and they get into an argument about etiquette

#I saw someone once say Henry eats very clincially and it sparked something in me #the secret history #tsh #dark academia #henry winter #richard papen #camilla macaulay #francis abernathy #charles macaulay #bunny corcoran #donna tartt #dark academia books #books #novels #tsh memes #headcanons #the greek class #murder gang #vermont’s very own murder gang

[tishalfdeadwaffles]

(The secret history spoiler warning)

unironically the thing I love most about the secret history is that it’s messed up by all means. Each character from the Greek class is messed up one way or another, and their faults, their fatal flaws—they’re not just any flaws no, they’re flaws that make these characters horrid. Yes they had cute interactions, yes I always think about their time in the countryhouse, when they were by the lake and Camilla injured her foot, Francis in his robe and Henry in his suit with the trousers rolled up to the knees, looking like a banker in an old impressionist painting, as he wades into the water, Charles saving Richard a sandwich and almost getting in trouble for it, bunny being kind to Richard at the start of the book and trusting him to the very end, the way bunny and Marion were so old married couple coded, Judy Poovey talking Richard’s ears off and being a girl 🎀, Henry beating up that jock for Camilla

Despite all this, Charles remains an incestuous drunkard and an abuser, Francis remains a melodramatic man who’d ask just about anyone he thinks attractive to bed on the first meeting, he’s also an anxious mess and refuses to believe there are consequences to his chain smoking, Camilla is manipulative and we know little of her bc of Richard’s idolisation, Richard morbidly longing for the picturesque at the expense of others’ lives and viewing the Greek class through rose tinted glasses, bunny was a homophobe and racist and leeched off everyone’s money—he literally put Richard on the spot during one of their first interactions in the book when he took him to the Brasserie and had Henry pay for everything—and looking through his sick friend’s diary and he was so darn annoying I couldn’t stand him at all in the first read, and even that might as well be exaggerated because it’s only Richard’s perspective on him, and bunny seemed to be well liked in the university by those outside the Greek class. I don’t even know where to start with Henry, I’m gonna have to make a separate post for him alone at this point. And even Judy, remember when Richard met her in the bathroom and she was talking about her slamming into Camilla when Camilla JUST entered the place, and when Camilla called her out Judy just dunked her beer on her because being drunk is a perfect excuse to see that as the right thing to do? And then when Henry and Charles went up to defend Camilla Judy called them abusers for defending her? 😭 though Henry breaking Spike’s bones is another thing to be honest. and don’t get me started on the bacchanal—the four of them killing an innocent man in their frenzy and getting away with it and brushing it under the rug later on. They’re literal murderers, and that’s before the plan of murdering Bunny was introduced

and ALL of them are chainsmokers and alcoholics to a dangerous point, can you even imagine the smell?????

anyhow, the main point of this ramble, is that to get a good sense of what this book is really about, I’d suggest rereading it at least once. Donna is a master of her craft, and this work of hers is anything but shallow, even the flaws are so perfectly placed and shadowed by our unreliable narrator to the point where there’s a big bunch of readers who completely ignore them (think of how there’s critics and readers who assume that Lolita is a romance novel) , but if you look from a more rational angle you’ll understand what Donna was trying to communicate

and I love love love how she did all of this

#thank you for coming to my ted talk #tsh #the secret history #the secret history Donna tartt #henry winter #richard papen #bunny corcoran #francis abernathy #camilla macaulay #charles macaulay #The Greek class #tw spoilers #tsh spoilers

[tea-is-toast]

Henry Winter’s ideal home:

#the secret history #henry winter #francis abernathy #richard papen #camilla macaulay #charles macaulay #the greek class #donna tartt #donna tartt the secret history #tsh donna tartt

[nothoughtsjustfrancisabarnathy]

You know what’s crazy about the group dynamic of The Secret History (well everything obviously but bear with me)? You’d think that out of every possible combination of the Greek class, excluding Bunny, if everyone has sexual tension with each other (which they do) the one pair that would be excluded is Francis and Camilla. Because he’s explicitly not into women which I think would make them being platonic a reasonable assumption to make. And I do think they are, I think they’re the probably the only fully platonic part of the dynamic, and even they’ve made out. Like what is even going on with these people? Just admit you’re in a sex cult already.

#the secret history #tsh #dark academia #francis abernathy #camilla macaulay #the greek class

[daydreaming-effy]

#dark academia #Henry winter vibes #henry winter #the secret history #The Greek class #dark academia aesthetic

[wingedcupidx]

a wise man once said:

growing up is realising that you should not want to be a part of the greek class & that you should stop crushing on henry winter. but maturity is knowing all that and saying "screw you" then continuing to have self insert daydreams about the book

#source: trust me bro #incorrect quotes #tsh #tsh memes #the secret history #the greek class #henry winter #richard papen #charles macaulay #camilla macaulay #bunny corcoran #francis abernathy #edmund corcoran #donna tartt

[lauravely]

Meet Henry ‘the bunny’ Winter

Yes, I named him after the character. But I have my reasons:

1st. Richard (my favorite from ths cause he’s literally me) is a very shitty name for a bunny

2nd. Naming a bunny “Bunny” is ridiculous

3rd. Francis does not match his bunny appearance

4th. Charles is a name for a dumb cat, not a plushie bunny

5th. Henry is cool, he knows a lot of languages

I don’t know why but the second I looked at him, I thought of the name Henry. Because he looks like a Henry. And he reminds me of Henry Winter without glasses.

Anyways Henry ‘the bunny’ Winter is a very silly and distinguished gentleman and he goes with me everywhere, I love him already. Thank you for the gift mum.

#the secret history #henry winter #dark academia #plushies #richard papen #charles macaulay #francis abernathy #the greek class #bunny corcoran

[blondephenobarbitol]

#the secret history #tsh #donna tartt #charles macaulay #richard papen #camilla macaulay #henry winter #bunny corcoran #francis abernathy #the greek class

[charl3ss]

I said what I said.

#the secret history #donna tartt #richard papen #charles macaulay #camilla macaulay #francis abernathy #henry winter #bunny corcoran #the greek class #julian morrow

[mimesis-is-sexy]

The funniest thing about the secret history is that Charles was right, icecream floats is a great hangover food. No one believed him but he was right 😭

#the secret history #charles macaulay #camilla macaulay #henry winter #richard papen #francis abernathy #bunny corcoran #julian morrow #the greek class #donna tartt #dark academia

[macaulaytwins]

TSH Thanksgiving

Francis hosts at his country house, provides all the wine, is running around his house all day readjusting candleholders and throw pillows and the silverware so they are aesthetically placed to his liking, refuses to eat the sweet potatoes, steps outside with Henry after the main meal for a smoke (would have done it at the table if Julian wasn’t there), is dressed absolutely to the nines

Henry wanted to host at his apartment—as Julian is invited—but ultimately acquiesces to the country house for the space, isn’t much of a cook but says he’ll bring rolls from a bakery he enjoys, drives in on the day in question with Bunny, gives Francis his opinion on the decor if asked, reads in the sitting room until Julien arrives and the meal begins, carves the turkey

Richard rides with Francis, Camilla, and Charles to the country house the day before, brought canned cranberry sauce, stays out of the dining and living room because Francis is stressing him out, is the taste tester for the twins who are cooking the bulk of the meal, nurses a generous glass of bourbon all day, is the designated potato masher, made sure to meticulously iron his shirt

Bunny rides over the day of with Henry, insisted upon bringing stuffing because he doesn’t trust anyone else to make it the way he likes it, sneaks one of Henry’s rolls much to Henry’s annoyance, day drinks with Charles and Richard, was going to finish up on some homework before the meal but falls asleep in his chair, reaches across to grab sides instead of asking for them and almost catches his sleeve on fire

Camilla is in charge of making the sides so she makes green beans, stuffing (she likes her grandparents’ recipe more than Bunny’s), sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and roast carrots, sneaks glasses of wine from Francis before the meal, excuses herself before Julian arrives so she can change into a nice blouse for the occasion, keeps up easiest with Julian’s topic changes, picked the music for the evening

Charles prepares the turkey, starts out cooking very meticulously but he gets more lax throughout the process with every drink refill, hovers over Camilla’s shoulder to make sure she got ingredient proportions right, keeps telling Francis that everything he adjusted looks the exact same as it did before, was going to go smoke with Francis but decided against it when Henry went out too (dramatic)

Julian arrives right at 4pm with a nice pumpkin pie that he did not make, compliments the table setup and pretends not to notice Francis’s shoulders slump in relief, gives the toast at the beginning of dinner, will change the conversation topic if it veers into something he finds disinteresting, leaves so he can be home at a crisp 9:30pm

#the secret history #tsh #dark academia #donna tartt #thanksgiving #henry winter #camilla macaulay #francis abernathy #charles macaulay #julian morrow #richard papen #bunny corcoran #the greek class #vermont’s very own murder gang #headcanons

[tea-is-toast]

Richard Papen:

#cries in hsbjksb #the secret history #donna tartt #donna tartt the secret history #the greek class #charles macaulay #camila macaulay #bunny corcoran #edmund corcoran #henry winter #richard papen

[the-loverboy-poet-no73]

#some of my TSH annotations #the secret history #tsh #book annotations #dark academia books #dark academia #annotating books #chaotic academia #Henry Winter #Richard Papen #The Greek Class #Francis Abernathy #Charles Macaulay #Camilla Macaulay #Bunny Corcoran #literature #books #dark academic

[thaliasthunder]

"your honor, i love him" she says about a character she would be terrified of in real life

#this post is about my man henry winter #not achilles lmao i'd bully him #anyway #henry winter #the secret history #the greek class #richard papen #charles macaulay #camilla macaulay #francis abernathy #bunny corcoran #donna tartt #greek myth #greek myth memes #books #thoughts #dark academia

[historicallyinaccurateaxolotls]

the greek class is queer. not that the individuals are queer, although they are, but that the essence of queerness is the greek class. in this essay i

#the secret history #student #history major #the greek class #charles is going to hell for interrupting richard and francis

[wingedcupidx]

secret history knife fight saga ( 2 )

winner of the previous round: Richard Papen

After a speedy recovery of three days under the watchful care of nurse Henry, Richard is back in the alley way behind the school to bravely face his next opponent, and bring himself one step closer to having a bacchanal thrown in his honour.

#donna tartt #the secret history #tsh fight saga #tsh memes #richard papen #charles macaulay #the greek class #knife fight