I don't know. He was the firstborn son, but I'm not sure that was why he was called Primo. I may be that his parents just knew that "Primo" was a common first name and called their son that, without knowing it was supposed to mean something.
In Italian "Primo" means "First". It's... unlikely his parents wouldn't know such a common word. You know, being Italians and both well-read. So, yeah. He was called Primo because he was the firstborn. As i said, it was common.
That is not what I meant. The point is, a lot of people know names mean something etymologically, but do not use this name because of it. For instance, my own real name happens to mean "sailor", but my parents didn't name me that because they hoped I'd become a sailor or anything like that. What I was suggesting was that, while being well aware that "Primo" originally means "First", the Levis might have just liked the sound of it and not cared about what it traditionally meant.
If he's generous, wouldn't "Fezziwig McDuck" suit him better?
I agree with this. Jacob Marley was said to be more avaricious, stingier and a bigger misanthrope than Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, and didn't even redeem himself before his death. "Marley McDuck" seems an ill-fitting name for a character whose main attribute is philanthropy and large-heartedness.
Post by Scrooge MacDuck on Jan 11, 2019 20:14:08 GMT
This has been brought up before, but my reasoning was that Scrooge and Marley were more of a "pair" than Scrooge and Fezziwig; while in Dickensiana it's Marley who's the worst of the two while Scrooge is the somewhat nicer one, it is undeniable that one is a symbolically clone of the other. I'm sure some literary analysis or other once pointed out that one of the reasons Ebenezer Scrooge isn't shown his future self by the Ghost of Christmas Future is that this would have been superfluous — that was already the point of Marley.
In short, who got it righter is swapped, but in both Dickens and Disney, Marley is what Scrooge could have become, and vice versa. That felt more important to me.
Post by dorialexander on Jan 11, 2019 21:08:46 GMT
Another possibility would be Trotty McDuck from the main character in the *other* Dickens christmas Story, The Chimes: Toby "Trotty" Veck. He’s not really a philanthropist but he stands as the nice version of Scrooge, deeply concerned with social inequalities (and the story is almost a remake of a Christmas Tale).
Post by Baar Baar Jinx on Jan 11, 2019 23:38:45 GMT
Maybe it says something about us as a society, but it doesn't look like we can come up with a single well-known fictional wealthy character, from Dickens' work or otherwise, who's known for being a philanthropist, generous or selflessly dedicated to using his good fortune for the betterment of society. Except Bruce Wayne, of course.
Are you kidding? The Cheeryble Brothers, kindly twin businessmen who play a major role in Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby, are philanthropists par excellence, to the extent that many critics attack them as unrealistic.
Post by Baar Baar Jinx on Jan 12, 2019 14:01:12 GMT
Great! So how about "Cheeryble McDuck"? They're also identical twin brothers, so the name seems even more appropriate for this identical twin brother of Scrooge.
That would work for me; although it's not as synonymous with "philanthropist" as "Scrooge" is with "miser," "Cheeryble" is still familiar enough to Dickens readers that the name has often been used by other British writers--like P.G. Wodehouse--as a humorous short-hand description for a benevolent, sometimes outrageously benevolent, character.
I vote for Cheeryble, although I need to reiterate that an identical twin brother of Scrooge's will probably never be "real" to me. I do like the concept of a benevolent, selfless, philanthopic foil for Scrooge (which would provide a nice balance to his current rivals like Glomgold and Rockerduck, who are as selfish and greedy as he is), but not necessarily as a sibling, twin or otherwise. I wouldn't mind seeing a character who, like Scrooge, comes from relative poverty and pulls himself or herself up by the bootstraps to become independently wealthy through hard work and frugality, but then chooses to be large-hearted and generous in contrast to Scrooge's miserliness; lots of great story opportunities there.
"Cheeryble" is a very clever name for the character, indeed--especially given the "twin brother" connection. I like "Ebenezer McDuck" as well, although as previously mentioned it wouldn't really fit the character if he were a philanthropist and big spender.
Coincidentally, Barks gave one of Scrooge's sisters the name "Hortense", which is also the name of a Charles Dickens character, namely Mademoiselle Hortense (pronounced 'Or-tawns), Lady Dedlock's maid from "Bleak House" (1852-53).
EDIT: in fact, the other Scrooge sister, "Matilda", shares her name with yet another Dickens character: Matilda Price (alias Tilda), John Browdie's fiancée from "Nicholas Nickleby", the same novel as the Cheeryble brothers. Quite a coincidence!
Last Edit: Jan 12, 2019 21:31:57 GMT by Scroogerello