These Violent Delights

The first few chapters showcase the novel’s embrace of a multitude of genres. It is both a romance novel, taking direct inspiration from William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet (1597), and historical fiction, since it is set in Shanghai in the 1920’s. The novel also has science fiction and fantasy elements, embodied by the monster and the contagious madness. Its main plot—the solving of the mystery of the madness—is a detective narrative, in which the protagonists seek clues to save the city from the supernatural infection.

The opening chapters allude heavily to Romeo and Juliet. The dueling gangs run by feuding families are modeled after the Montagues (the White Flowers, run by Lord Montagov), and the Capulets (the Scarlet Gang, run by the Cais). The prologue, in which members of the Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers confront each other, mirrors Act I, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet. Roma Montagov is Romeo Montague’s equivalent, and Juliette Cai’s is based on Juliet Capulet. However, the novel quickly subverts the readers’ expectations that the plot will closely follow the plot of the play. The main conflict is not the feuding between the two families or the romance between the young lovers; those are merely subplots. Instead, the main conflict is the source of the madness spreading through the city that causes people to kill themselves. Still, the madness itself echoes the suicides of Romeo and Juliet in the original play.

The descriptions of Shanghai in the opening chapters reveal an important theme: the clash of cultures between native Chinese residents and Europeans seeking to dominate the city. The tension between the Chinese and the foreign powers and the city’s embrace of Western culture suggests the city is a paradox. It is made richer, both financially and culturally, by the presence of foreigners, but it risks being subsumed by them. The narrator depicts Shanghai as a melting pot of cultures, especially when it describes a popular dress the women wear:

With the outrageous slit down the side revealing ankle to thigh and the high collar acting as a choke hold, the design was a blend of Western flamboyance and Eastern roots, and in a city of divided worlds, the women were walking metaphors (9).

The women’s dresses show that the cultures of East and West mix in Shanghai in a way that produces innovation but also troubling contradictions. This passage is particularly ominous in its description of the dress’s collar “acting as a choke hold” (9).

Meanwhile, the mob rule of the city and the feud between the two rival gangs that control it suggest that the gangs must fight each other constantly to maintain their power. Neither can get the upper hand, so they are caught in a vicious cycle of violence and vengeance. However, the intrusion of colonial powers, such as the British and the French, and the growth of political groups—the Nationalists and the Communists—show that the gangs are losing their influence over the city. Nevertheless, Juliette glorifies the gangs, viewing her position as heir as a calling to public service: “This was her life, this was her city, these were her people, and because she loved them, she had sworn to herself she would do a damn good job” (17). She believes that keeping the gangs in power, rather than the foreigners, is important for maintaining Shanghai’s sovereignty.

However, the introduction of the madness, which at first seems to be an unexplainable supernatural phenomenon, serves as a reminder to both gangs that some problems are outside of their control. Initially, neither Lord Cai nor Lord Montagov want to show concern about the madness, preferring to ignore the issue because they are afraid of it. Tyler, seeking to attack The White Flowers, believes violent confrontations are the answer, but Juliette is more concerned with protecting the people of the city, which she views as the gang’s responsibility.