Original artwork, not a still
These violent delights have violent ends.
— Westworld • 2016
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The line is Shakespeare's warning that passion consumed in its own triumph is doomed, here whispered by a robot to a robot. It names the show's theme: the host's pleasures in the park, and the guests' violence, are headed somewhere neither can stop. Fans quote it for anything whose appeal is also its undoing.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for WestworldShow the scene
Westworld, season 1, episode 1, 'The Original' (2016). At the Abernathy ranch, the rancher host Peter Abernathy has found a modern photograph in the dirt and begins to malfunction. As Dolores rides to town for the doctor he grabs her and, quoting The Tempest, tells her that hell is empty, then whispers something in her ear that only she hears. Later, in a diagnostic interview, security chief Ashley Stubbs asks Dolores what her father whispered. She answers with this line, which comes from Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet. In a later episode it turns out to be a voice command.
Sources (3)
- The Original (Westworld), Westworld WikiPlot: 'These Violent Delights'; QuotesReference checked
- Literary references, Westworld WikiRomeo and Juliet Act II, Scene VIReference checked
- Voice Commands, Westworld WikiEntry for 'These violent delights have violent ends'Reference checked
Context reviewed
