Just a few more words about Duke's behavior
This man definitely has trouble reading social cues and the emotional atmosphere in the room. Duke often gets carried away and he himself does not understand when its time to knock it off. It would never occur to him that he was going too far unless his friends told him so. At the same time he usually doesn't even have really bad intentions. The most striking example of this behavior is that one scene in the maze, when he literally threatens to break Lenore's arm, hoping to provoke her manifesting. It sounds like a big red flag now that I think about it. However Lenore very quickly explains to him where he crossed the line – the girl has no problems standing for herself. Duke immediately backs off and says he wouldn't really hurt her. Tbh I believe him here, he no longer plays with fire when it comes to Lenore.
But Pluto is a different case. Where Lenore dot all the "I" at the first opportunity and gives a well-deserved kick in the ass, Pluto tolerates all teasing and taunts. Meanwhile again in the maze Duke is literally trying to push him into the abyss. As a joke, of course. That's a great joke, Duke, bravo. I can't even imagine why Pluto isn't laughing. And yet Pluto does not stop him. He patiently endures ridicule over his numerous fears, and grumbling that he did not share his knowledge of etymology in time, and indignation that he got his spectre too late, and teasing for having a crush on Eulalie. Sure, Duke and Pluto barely knew each other in the maze but that's exactly why this behavior is Pluto's first impression of Duke. Of course he thinks that the guy who teased him about anything is going to tease him about his scar as well!
Yes, Pluto expresses both embarrassment and displeasure but he never clearly tells Duke to stop. This is a delicate moment: on the one hand Pluto doesn't have to voice everything that makes him uncomfortable – Duke is an adult boy, he must understand when he crosses the border. But on the other hand, we already found out at the beginning that he doesn't understand. He needs to be told, literally thrown in his face what he is wrong about. Even Morella does this once when Duke tries to distract her from uneasy conversation with Lenore. But Pluto didn't. Pluto endures.
Until he snapped back after almost drowning.
He's hurt, scared, he almost died, he has no idea if the rest of the group is okay. And Duke, with his cheeky jokes and cocky fearlessness, doesn't help the situation at all. Therefore Pluto throws out everything that has accumulated because there is no more room in his cup of patience. Sure Pluto has every reason to be angry. We understand that. But does Duke understand that? It came out of the blue for him: he saved Pluto, he apologized, he tried to cheer him and Eulalie up all the way so that they wouldn't lose heart in a difficult situation. What is Pluto unhappy about?
Here I would like to draw a parallel with a rather unexpected duet in this context: Ada and Prospero.
We all know how much Ada annoyed Prospero with her flirt. We all know how she shamelessly imposed herself on him and ignored his boundaries that he tried in vain to defend. For us readers Prospero's discomfort and disgust were obvious. But not for Ada. She read all the hints he gave her as embarrassment and timidity because that's what Annabel told her. Let's be honest: Prospero never directly rejected Ada. On the contrary in a sense Prospero encouraged her feelings: I remind you that the scene in which he gallantly gives her his hand and calls Ada "my lady" still exists. It still doesn't make sense. Literally A FRAME LATER Prospero says her don't touch him. Dude?? You give her your hand yourself???
When Prospero snaps at her after the mansion for us his breakdown is understandable and justified – but it seems cruel and unfair for Ada. After all Annabel had said he liked her. After all he himself was so gallant and courteous to her. After all he had been tolerating her flirting all this time – what had gone wrong?
Both Ada and Duke behaved in a certain way and nothing in their behavior changed – but for some reason Prospero and Pluto`s reaction changed. Why are they suddenly angry? After all everything was fine.
Absolutely nothing was fine. It's just that both Pluto and Prospero are emotionally closed introverts who couldn't express their discomfort in time as bluntly as possible. And Duke and Ada are too self-absorbed to notice someone else's discontent until it explodes in their face. As a result EVERYONE is unhappy and offended.
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