I have been watching the Killer Bride TV Series lately. The writers of the show should be applauded for heeding Aristotle's advice in his Poetics of making the plot central to the story--not the love teams, the speeches, nor the spectacles:
For Tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of an action and of life, and life consists in action, and its end is a mode of action, not a quality. Now character determines men's qualities, but it is by their actions that they are happy or the reverse. Dramatic action, therefore, is not with a view to the representation of character: character comes in as subsidiary to the actions. Hence the incidents and the plot are the end of a tragedy; and the end is the chief thing of all. (Aristotle, Poetics, Book XVI)The Killer Bride's script reads like the story of the Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas:
On the day of his wedding to Mercédès, Edmond Dantès, first mate of the Pharaon, is incorrectly accused of treason, arrested, and imprisoned without trial in the Château d'If, a grim island fortress off Marseilles. A fellow prisoner, Abbé Faria, correctly deduces that his jealous rival Fernand Mondego, envious crewmate Danglars, and double-dealing magistrate De Villefort turned him in. Faria inspires his escape and guides him to a fortune in treasure. As the powerful and mysterious Count of Monte Cristo (Italy), he arrives from the Orient to enter the fashionable Parisian world of the 1830s and avenge himself on the men who conspired to destroy him. (Wikipedia: Count of Monte Cristo)Or perhaps also like Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, since these books are based on Dumas' novel:
In the events of the previous novel, Crisóstomo Ibarra, a reform-minded Spanish mestizo who tried to establish a modern school in his hometown of San Diego and marry his childhood sweetheart, was falsely accused of rebellion and presumed dead after a shootout following his escape from prison. Elias, his friend who was also a reformer, sacrificed his life to give Crisóstomo a chance to regain his treasure and flee the country, and hopefully continue their crusade for reforms from abroad. After a thirteen-year absence from the country, a more revolutionary Crisóstomo has returned, having taken the identity of Simoun, a corrupt jeweler whose objective is to drive the government to commit as much abuse as possible in order to drive people into revolution. (Wikipedia: El Filibusterismo)This perhaps explains the reason why one of the characters in the Killer Bride is named Elias, the love interest of Emma. Emma was a girl roaming the streets near the church, ardently looking for her mother who abandoned her. then she was found by Camila, who was driven nearly to madness when he lost her baby daughter Vida in a jail fire, just like Sisa who lost her sons Crispin and Basilio in Noli Me Tangere. And now Camila is hell-bent on exacting revenge on those who wronged her. Here is the summary of the story of The Killer Bride:
Las Espadas is a superstitious town that has been haunted by the ghost of The Killer Bride for years. Most of the residents have stories of encountering Camila Dela Torre, the woman in 1999 who—right before her wedding day, "killed" and was found by her fiance in a matching bloody wedding dress and veil. In her murder trial, Camila begs to the court that she is wrongfully accused, but is eventually shunned by her own rich, prominent family and fiance Vito dela Cuesta who testifies against her. After giving birth to a beautiful baby girl in prison, a sudden freak fire encompasses the entire prison facility. Crying, desperate and unable to locate her newborn daughter, her last words exact revenge on every person who falsely accused her, all whilst her body burned in the flames.
18 years pass and urban legend fuses into reality as a group of teenagers headed by Elias Sanchez again tell the story of Camila. Playfully, they claim that on the day of the blood moon eclipse, the ghost of Camila will possess a new body and kickstart her vow for revenge. As if fulfilling the prophecy, a girl from nowhere, Emma Bonaobra moves to the town. Securing a job as the town's mortuary cosmetologist, she is told of the tale of The Killer Bride but disbelieves it. Lo and behold, Emma wakes up possessed, gatecrashing her family's grand party event claiming that she is the long-dead Camila, The Killer Bride. The entire town begin to question her motives. Is this a haunting chronicle that connects the rival Dela Torre vs. Dela Cuesta families who battled for land and politics—or is this simply a tale of The Killer Bride destined to curse the town?.[1] (Wikipedia: The Killer Bride)B. Killer Bride's Theme
One of the musical themes of the Killer Bride is the Bridal Chorus of Richard Wagner, which is played in English-speaking countries as "Here Comes the Bride" or "Wedding March":
Faithfully guided, draw near
to where the blessing of love shall preserve you!
Triumphant courage, the reward of love,
joins you in faith as the happiest of couples!
Champion of virtue, proceed!
Jewel of youth, proceed!
Flee now the splendour of the wedding feast,
may the delights of the heart be yours!
This sweet-smelling room, decked for love,
now takes you in, away from the splendour.
Faithfully guided, draw now nearNotice that the lyrics are more profound than the normal renditions:
to where the blessing of love shall preserve you!
Triumphant courage, love so pure,
joins you in faith as the happiest of couples!
Here comes the bride dressed all in light
Radiant and lovely she shines in his sight
Gently she glides graceful as a dove
Meeting her bridegroom her eyes full of love.
Love have they waited long have they planned
Life goes before them opening her hand.
Asking god's blessing as they begin
Life with new meaning, life shared as one
Entering God's union, bowed before His throne
Promise each other to have and to hold.
But unlike the traditional meter of the Wedding March, the theme in Killer Bride is slow and brooding. So what I wish to do is to write a ballad based on Wedding March theme that tells the story of Camila dela Torre as the Killer Bride. Hopefully, the ballad below can still be sung in the same slow and brooding tone as in The Killer Bride TV series.
C. The Legend of the Killer Bride: a Ballad on the Life of Camila dela Torre
by Monk's Hobbit
Here comes the bride dressed all in white
Youthful and lovely she walked before their eyes
Then her phone rang. "Vito" it said.
They need to meet in the place they have set.
She saddled her horse and went like the wind
To the old house of ruined stones and weeds
Gently she walked with fear in her heart
Then she saw Javier with a gun in his hand
A man came behind and put her to sleep
The last thing she saw were horseshoes in his chest
When she woke up her gown was in rags
Bloodied and soiled, with a knife in her hands
Then she freaked out. Javier laid in blood.
When Vito came he went straight to his brod.
But it was too late. The stabs took their toil.
Javier pointed to her as he died in Vito’s arms
And the judge believed Vito’s testimony
The Court sentenced Camila to reclusion perpetua
There in the jail, she bore her daughter
But a fire broke out and nowhere was her Vida
And so it was told that as she sobbed in flames
Her voice pierced the ears like a sword to the heart
“Vengeance is mine! I shall repay!
I shall come back to avenge my dear daughter!”
“Then you shall know what demon you sent!
From the pits of hell I shall come for your slaughter!”
And her curse echoed there in Las Espadas
As the children sing when the moon turns to blood:
“Here comes the bride dressed all in white!
Bloodied and soiled, with a knife in her hands!
Camila is back, just as she said!
Run for your lives for the bride is on your heels!”