As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Fridge Brilliance
- The title, Maskerade, relates to the power a mask can provide as a separate identity:
- Agnes wears a false identity, Perdita, at the Opera House. Later on Perdita comes to life as a separate personality.
- Walter Plinge and the Ghost are two different personas separated by a white mask. Granny points out how magical the mask is without having any real magic to it. In the final battle, the white mask is destroyed, but Agnes makes a fake invisible one for Walter that only he can see (even she doesn’t know if it’s real) and that he never takes off.
- Salzella uses Plinge as a decoy so that everyone will chase him while he can commit his crimes easily.
- Granny Weatherwax dresses up as Lady Esmeralda for a time.
- An opera maxim (or let’s say trope) is that it’s not over till the fat lady sings. When Agnes lets out a scream of rage and frustration at the way the theatre has treated her, the story at the Opera House is pretty much done; after all, nobody said the fat lady would be happy or satisfied when she sings the final note.
- During the poker game between Granny Weatherwax and Death, Death states that Granny's faith lies in the flame, as courage is easy by candlelight. She dispels the candle and stares down Death, but Carpe Jugulum reveals that she keeps a phoenix feather, as a memento of light in dark places. Looks like Death was right about her faith in flame after all.
- Early in the book, Salzella comments on the notes from the "Ghost", stating that the use of five exclamations points in a row is a sign that the writer "wears his underpants on his head"note . During the climactic unmasking and fight scene, Salzella rants at length on everything he hates about opera. Watch the exclamation points in his dialogue! Over the course of the fight with the Ghost/Walter Plinge and Salzella's protracted death scene, Salzella's dialogue increases his number of exclamation points, showing his mental breakdown. His last lines hit the full five exclamation points, just before he dies... and then it's revealed that Walter only thrust his sword under Salzella's arm, a common theatrical trick to fake a death blow. The insanity of the Opera House truly claimed its victim.
- Along with Salzella, watch Bucket's exclamation points. All through the story, Bucket has been trying to play the Only Sane Man while dealing with nonsensical accounting, increasing vandalism, murders, and the insanity of the Opera House world, while growing increasingly desperate for money to keep the place afloat. All through the fight scene, Bucket's exclamation points also slowly increase; when the witches not only convince him to let Walter Plinge be the new music director, but the organist Andre (who is an undercover policeman) tells him that Walter's work will actually make money, Bucket finally tips over into the full five exclamation points. The Opera House Insanity has claimed another victim...
- Agnes trying and failing to understand the plot of opera has a deeper layer if you read The Wee Free Men. According to the Kelda, being a witch is like being sober at a party; you're unable to enjoy it because you can't mingle or laugh with the others. Agnes is told that you can't understand opera and sing it at the same time, but she tries to escape the haze of ignorance to understand it.
- It's mentioned that Agnes was "born too late" to become an opera diva as she's missed the era of the stereotypical Brawn Hilda opera singer by about 20 years. Agnes was born in Lancre, which the witches transported 15 years into the future as part of their plan to defeat the Felmets in Wyrd Sisters, making that a much nearer miss than it appears.
- When Bucket learns about the Opera Houses's operating costs, Salzella suggests that the ballerinas should perform more jumps and one-legged moves, under the logic that shoes in the air won't scuff. While the joke is that this will wear the shoes out even faster, it also gives Salzella an excuse to keep cooking the books.
