GreenApple Speculation (part two)
Hey there gays, faes, and creatures of unknown origin, I'm still thinking about GreenApple, and you're gonna hear about it Today class, we will be dissecting literally every moment in the purple tent related to Pierrot and Harlequin, buckle your seatbelts and make sure not to read this if you don't want bigtime spoilers for the freak circus.
At the beginning before/when Columbina arrives Pierrot and Harlequin can be seen standing and sitting with eachother, once again contributing to my theory that the two were much closer before Columbina arrived… that, or I'm just reading too deep into their placements, but if they really did hate eachother from day one I'd imagine they would atleast space themselves further from one another.
However, in the following scene where Pierrot offers the flower to Columbina, Harlequin stands the furthest away, watching envious as Pierrot pours out his heart and offers it to Columbina. It is directly stated in this moment that Harlequin "saw the light in the lover's eyes and felt envy gnawing him from within" Let's talk about punctuation for a moment:
The plural possessive noun of lover is lovers' If Harlequin was envious of the light in both of their eyes then that is the form of lover that would be used But here's the thing, that wasn't the form that was used Lover's is a singular possessive, it implies the "Lover" is one person, and thus that the eyes belong to that one person. This is noteworthy especially because in the story the "Lover" is Pierrot. the "Lovestruck one" is Pierrot. So, if we read this all out When Harlequin witnessed Pierrot's sweet moments with Columbina he "saw the light in Pierrot's eyes and felt envy gnawing him from within" Let's define envy next Envy is the desire to have a quality, possession, or other desirable attribute belonging to someone else So, we know that the quality/possession we are referring to is the light in Pierrots eyes, meaning that Harlequin specifically wants the light in Pierrot's eyes for himself. One could interpret this as longing the ability to fall in love, of looking at Pierrot and wishing his own eyes could sparkle with that kind of affection(envious of a quality).. but given what we know of Harlequin I genuinely doubt that what he longs for is simply to fall in love, especially so considering how viciously he turns away all romantic or otherwise affection directed at him: Rather, I believe he is envious of the possession that doesn’t belong to him, he feels envy because Columbina has the light in Pierrot's eyes all to herself, he feels envy because Harlequin wants that light to be directed at him. This is then IMMEDIATELY confirmed with the following line where Harlequin says specifically "Why are your eyes never on me? Why can't it be… me?" Harlequin wants Pierrot to look at him the way Pierrot looks at Columbina THIS is the source of his envy, that green envy that drives all of Harlequin's actions When it says that Harlequin "grew tired of the glances that weren't meant for him" and "the sound of the lovesick monster's footsteps drawing near" it is pretty natural to assume the glances he envies are from the lovesick monster (Pierrot). Sure Columbina is shown to be in a relationship with Pierrot, or at the very least being courted by Pierrot, but the only character in this story depicted as "lovesick" IS Pierrot.
And then AND THEN THEN HARLEQUIN DIRECTLY TELLS COLUMBINA "Maybe it's not you that I love." AND I CANT PREFACE ENOUGH "Maybe it's not you that I love" THAT THIS LINE IMPLIES THAT HE DOES STILL LOVE SOMEONE, ITS JUST NOT COLUMBINA "Maybe this feeling is something else. My heart beats fast for another reason" "Or maybe… I just want what I can't have. If I do this, maybe then…" "I can love you the right way… only my way. Mine."When it comes to the line "what I cant have" the thing Harlequin cannot have is Pierrot, as Pierrot has devoutly given himself to another—this can be confirmed by the context that Harlequin thinks if he does "this" then he could love "you" the right way and have "you" be his But here's the thing, the "this" referred to within this very scene is killing Columbina. How would killing Columbina allow him to love her the right way and have her for himself? Simple, it wouldn't. Because Harlequin does not want Columbina for himself, rather, Columbina is the obstacle for him to have his true desire for himself: Pierrot.
and Pierrot finds Harlequin smiling after having just killed Columbina, the very first thing he asks Pierrot
"Are your eyes on me?" "Is your hate on me?"
He doesn't CARE what form the attention takes as long as Pierrot is looking at him, thinking about him, feeling because of him. Even when those feelings are rage and pain Harlequin loves it for one simple reason, now he has stolen Pierrot's gaze from Columbina. He has stolen Pierrots thoughts, he has tainted Pierrot's mind, after being ignored and ignored and ignored in favor of Columbina Finally FINALLY Pierrot notices him
And that day Harlequin "found that hatred tastes far sweeter than love." After all, that hatred, that sweet emotion, it came from Pierrot and Harlequin could have it and hold it all to himself, he could use it to make sure he was forever on Pierrot's mind without ever having to be vulnerable with himself. And love? Love required that vulnerability that Harlequin can't handle, and love is something that Harlequin knows would never truly be directed at himself anyway.
And one final reminder for you all, Jester himself said at the beginning that this was a story about forbidden love, not the tragic love story between Pierrot and Columbina as nothing about that was forbidden, not some cruel love between Columbina and Harlequin as the story itself states what Harlequin feels for Columbina is not truly love... no. this is a story about Harlequin's forbidden love for Pierrot.
