Tonica and the Peacocks
***Spoiler warning for episode 3 of Rivals Season 2. ***
Welcome to what I like to call: Reggie is double majoring in English and Economics, and spends too much time analysing and dissecting the meaning of everything within the media they consume.
I want to talk to you today about the two peacocks that Tony gave Monica for their anniversary. They may at a glance seem like just a frivolous gesture of Tony trying to woo Monica or appease her -- which is true in some ways. We'll get to that.
These peacocks are actually a metaphor about Tony and Monica themselves.
Let's take a look, shall we...
Physical Appearance/Social Presentation:
Male Peacocks and Tony:
Peacocks are the ones with the loud colors and long feather train. Designed specifically to gather attention and garner status with female peacocks during mating
Tony wears flashy, expensive suits. Trying to overcompensate for his lack of class/not being born into old money. Seeking validation from his wife and society itself.
Peahens and Monica:
Peahens have the more muted, brown colors. Designed to help them blend into the landscape.
Monica's more muted. She blends into her place in society—old money, aristocratic. She doesn't have to try. She gives Tony that natural status within their marriage.
(Also, they're both wearing the colours of the peacock pair in the scene. Coincidence?)
Mating/Courtship:
Peacocks are in charge of initiating mating. They use their feather train and perform a display that hinges on impressing a peahen. They have no control over whether the peahens will be impressed.
Tony constantly performs in the series, making grandiose gestures to try to gain legitimate status/validation (he's dramatic). Specifically, with Monica here, he dotes on her with something he knows she loves/has wanted since she was young: peacocks. They're important to her. He agrees to go to the theatre because it makes her happy. He agrees to stay to watch Maud because Monica asks him to. He offers Maud the role of Titania because Monica suggested it.
Peahens hold all the power when it comes to mating. They basically determine validation and if the mating dance is successful.
Monica holds the leverage in her relationship with Tony. She is the one with the legitimacy. She gives Tony the social standing to do what he does. And she has been almost... rejecting him, putting him in a position where he is about to lose that validation. Her admonishment of his actions, not only for his unfaithfulness but also for how he runs Corinium, has led her to be indifferent to his attempts with her.
What this scene is supposed to represent, especially given the fact that it interrupts her scolding Tony for what he did to Rupert, is his attempt to rekindle their courtship. Essentially, changing his tactics in an attempt to rewoo her. It is in the only language he really knows how to operate by: money and grandeur. A plea to bring them back into "mating" or "fanning of his tail", if you will -- signalling to Monica that he is choosing her.
The fact that the peacocks he gives her are a mating pair -- a female and a male....a desire to showcase a want for domestic completeness, or rather, a return to that structure and its public image. Building on this further, the fact that it's only two and a mating pair is a way to further apologize for his infidelity. Essentially, what this tells her is that he only has eyes for her -- she's his queen, his true match, the only one allowed with him and to see him vulnerable.
Other Big Thoughts in My Brain About This:
The fact that the next scene we see Tony in is one where he rejects Beattie's attempts to seduce him serves as proof of this change. He directly rejects Beattie and shows that he's taken. "I'm going to the Theater with my wife", and if you look at the tone at which he said it...disgust, controlled. He has bonded with Monica and intends to behave for a while. Beattie even remarks about how he's changed. It's all rather fascinating.
I have read the book. And I know Tony sleeps with Maud in the book, and it feels like they are setting that up, yet it also feels like they're really trying to show us something with Tonica.
Seeing Monica and Tony scheme together especially moved me. It's put them back in those equal partnership roles, working together towards their common goal. Equal ground. Properly Mated.
The scene where Tony tells Monica is his secret weapon, also really emphasises their union. Monica does add that this whole situation has made them stronger as partners and husband and wife. He's giving up his feud with Rupert -- supposedly -- because she asked him to.
I want to know how this ties into his awful, horrible acts. And also that extremely emotional scene, David Tennant mentioned the other day that he had at some point.
Also, have you seen the way they look at each other? Especially Tony. WHIPPED.
It's also definitely a big control thing for Tony. Peacocks symbolise wealth and control. Monica helps create the image of the family, as do the children, an asset to his luxury and status
His threat to run them over also creates a very interesting dynamic ("vroom, vroom" lives rent-free in my head), as Monica has threatened to ruin him and everything he cares about. Now, he has something she cares about that he can ruin if something happens between them.
I'm sure more thoughts will come to me as the episodes roll out. But those are my thoughts on this for now.
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