Similar Characters/Scenes in books and plays/screenplays

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

I was looking for a picture of 'Captain Jack' and some pictures of Audrey Hepburn showed up (don't ask), dressed for the ball. The lyrics of that show 'My Fair Lady' started playing in my head. Then, a little while later, I was searching for a picture from the Harry Potter series and a picture of Gilderoy Lockhart (many of them) popped up! Of course, several of them were of him smiling and that quidditch question/answer popped up - "... and five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award "

Oddly, the music from My Fair Lady had wound around to Henry Higgins singing of the ball, and Zoltan Karparthy showing up - "oozing charm from every pore, he oiled his way around the floor".

What a great coincidence!

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Have you ever read a book and then realized that a character in it reminded you of someone (or something) in an entirely different book or perhaps in a play (or screenplay/movie)? Or there is a 'coincidence' of traits which have an amusing (or unfortunate) juxtaposition? Same questions with a character in a book and someone in a play or screenplay/movie.

This question/topic is not asking for archetypes -- those abound! This question is for specific individuals in specific books and who or what they might remind you of from another book (play/screenplay/movie) altogether.

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

I am a big fan of Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. So much so that I rarely pick any other large detective book collections, but prefer to stick to single book novels. However, after I watched the movie (and started on the TV show), I decided to venture into Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot mysteries, starting with the famous Murder on the Orient Express. As I progressed with the book, it hit me just how similar, yet different, Poirot is to Holmes.

I am not talking about the archetype of a brilliant detective, though both men certainly are that. I am talking more about the small details in the characters that remind me of each other. Both have a vice, for example, though what it is differs in both detectives. However, neither really lets it become a problem. They both also have a less “intellectually” competitive partner, who helps the detective solve crimes often by offering a seemingly unconnected comment that helps solve the mystery. With Sherlock Holmes I am of course talking about John Watso, while Poirot has Arthur Hastings.

I think that when it really hit me just how Holmes and Poirot are similar is when they reveal the details of how they came to a (right) conclusion. Both love theatrics and like to gather all the people in one place (if the matter is not time sensitive and sometimes, even then) so they can tell all gathered about the thought process and how they came to solve the mystery. Here, I think Poirot beats Holmes a little because while Doyle is a master of mystery, Christie’s niche is the “locked room” mystery.

All in all, these two characters are eerily similar, yet different enough so that both can be pretty enjoyable.