Tag: Special Features

Welcome to Guess the AITA!

The principle is very simple: the plots of various English novels and plays have been turned into AITA posts. What is AITA, you may ask? AITA, or Am I The Asshole, is a Reddit online community where people can come and ask if what they did is wrong. The other members of the community then judge them and either decide they are not the asshole (NTA), the opposite “you’re the asshole” (YTA) or “everyone sucks here” (ESH). Now, this game reimagines classic English stories into this format, and your task is to figure out which ones are featured here. Ready? Set… Go!

Also: warning for spoilers ahead!

1. AITA after upsetting my uncle?

skull-holder posted:

My father, H, died recently. My uncle, C, took the throne and married my widowed mother, which I find despicable, especially so soon after the funerals. I also believe he murdered my father. In order to find proof, I pretended to be mad. Later, two of my friends, whom I suspect to have become spies for my uncle, mentioned a theater group coming to the palace. It inspired me to commission a play reenacting the murder of my father. My uncle immediately ran off after witnessing it, so he’s clearly guilty. However, my mother got mad at me for upsetting my uncle. We got in a fight; I ended up killing the king’s counselor who was hiding behind a curtain and trying to protect her. I am starting to doubt my plans and desire for vengeance, so I am asking here if I am the a-hole in this situation.

Comments:

Thatannoyingpeasant: NTA. Justice needs to be served! Death to the King!!!!!!

Illuminations808: I feel like ESH to some level. Your family is all kinds of messed up. You should leave for a while to cool your head and think your ideas through without being in the middle of all the drama.

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2. AITA for refusing to marry?

Somebodytolove! posted:

I met Mr. F.D at a ball some time ago. I find him quite snobbish and mean, but I try to keep everything civil between us, even if he has wronged another good man I know, Mr. G.W. Mr. F.D was friends with Mr. C.B, who was supposed to marry my sister. But after C.B went on a business trip with his sisters and F.D, my sister received a letter saying that C.B will not return to our hometown and that he is going to marry someone else. This crushed my sister, and I have strong suspicions that F.D and one of C.B’s sisters have pushed him to cancel the wedding. Later, F.D came to visit and proposed to me. I immediately refused, calling him rude and a bad person for contributing to the cancellation of my sister’s wedding and ruining G.W. He left, but the next day, he gave me a letter explaining his point of view. So now I am doubting myself and my judgment. AITA?

Comments:

silkyrobes: NTA. It is completely fine to refuse a wedding proposal, especially if you don’t get along with F.D. It would be a recipe for disaster if you did!

Catlover4: After reading your updates in the comments, I’d say everyone kinda suck here. For you personally, it seems you’ve had biases and prejudices that altered your judgment.

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3. I do not like the holidays, and I wonder if it makes me an a-hole.

Justanoldhardworkingguy posted:

I do not like Christmas. People stop working at that time and still expect to get paid. I was asked to donate to the poor to make them “merry” when we have structures for them working just fine. It is also during Christmas Eve that my coworker died, bringing unpleasant memories. But lately, I’ve been seeing ghosts? First, my dead coworker warned me to talk to people and share time with them. Then the ghost of an old man showed me my early life, like my childhood and the first time I worked. After that, a fat ghost let me hear people I know who still wish me Merry Christmas while I wasn’t there, and a ghost in black clothes showed me what would happen after I die if I kept my current attitude. I’m starting to wonder if I am the bad person here.

Comments:

Isthatthegrimreaper?!?!?!: NTA for disliking the holidays but YTA for not donating. Helping your community, especially the less fortunate, is always a good thing to do. It strengthens the society.

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4. I got upset at my wife, AITA?

Oneguyfromvenice posted:

So, I recently married my wife. My lieutenant, C, recently attacked and injured two men while drunk. I had to remove his title. Ever since that incident, he has tried to win back his position, and he’s been using my wife to get in my good graces. My friend IA even fears something is going on between them. I never had doubts about my wife being unfaithful; she’s always been a great, loyal woman. But IA has noticed C using D’s handkerchief that I gifted to her in our early days. Enraged, I confronted her. I first asked her to hand me the handkerchief. But she couldn’t find it. It set me off badly that she gave away my gift, which belonged to my mother. I yelled at her and stormed off. I do feel bad about my actions, wondering if I made a mistake and the situation isn’t what it seemed like. AITA?

Comments:

User10297: NTA. You REALLY should listen to your pal IA; he seems to have a good head on his shoulders.

User4778: You’re not the A, and IA did bring really strong evidence that your wife is cheating. I’d listen to that guy carefully.

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5. AITA for not liking someone?

Matchmaking101 posted:

Recently, I met Miss J.F, a young orphan woman. I do not like her cold attitude and I have suspicions that she has a relationship with Mr. D, my friend’s husband. My suspicions grew when a mysterious admirer gifted J.F a piano, and she later received letters from an anonymous person that might be Mr. D. But my brother-in-law, Mr. J.K, is defending her, saying I should help her not become a governess because of her poverty. He also affirms J.F is interested in someone else, not Mr. D. Things escalated during a picnic, where Mr. J.K called me out for being mean not only to J.F but her family too, especially Miss. B. I feel conflicted and guilty, wondering if I am the A and what to do next.

Comments:

Ilovemydog: YTA. J.F didn’t harm you directly, right? And you only have suspicions about this love affair, not solid proof.

Check-my-music-out: Based on your replies in the comments: yeah, you’re kind of TA.

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6. AITA for running away from my wedding?

idonotlikemycousins posted:

I worked at Mr. E.R residence for a while as a governess teaching Miss A.V, E. R’s ward. I’ve slowly fallen in love with him, despite the mysteries surrounding him. However, I’ve kept this a secret. Then one day, E.R proposed to me, turning down an extremely beautiful socialite for me. I accepted his proposal. But at our wedding ceremony, his biggest secret came to light: E.R was already married to B.M, a woman from Jamaica. B. M’s brother is the one who came forward about this secret, forcing E.R to show everyone he has been hiding B.M on the third floor of his house. Horrified, I ran away. Now, I still have feelings for E.R. But I am extremely shocked about what happened that day, and I don’t know what to do.

Comments:

User09780: NTA, he hid an entire FIRST WIFE in his house! How can you still go along with the wedding in that case?

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7. Am I the A for wanting to burn down my husband’s house?

My husband has put me through a lot. Our marriage started great, but he quickly grew cold and distant. He clearly despised the people attending to me, like my nurse C, yet I heard him sleep with one of them. Then he started using the wrong name to call me and forced me to leave Jamaica. In the end, he locked me up in one of his mansions for God knows how long, and I don’t even know where I am. Lately, I’ve been dreaming of setting the house on fire when I sleep. I feel more and more tempted to make that dream a reality… but would that make the A?

Comments:

You are too early for comments, check later!

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Answers:

1. Hamlet by Shakespeare
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
3. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
4. Othello by Shakespeare
5. Emma by Jane Austen
6. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
7. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Author: Lyo Elle Roy

There’s this old adage we all know and are tired of hearing that says “not to judge a book by its cover,” although it is rarely actually applied to books. However, in libraries and bookshops, who hasn’t decided on whether to purchase or not a story, based on the appeal of its title? And what would happen if some of the most well-known books had completely different names that aligned to modern tactics of marketing? We gave some of the most beloved English literature classics clickbait titles to experiment…

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1. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

Man finds unexpected secret against ageing; doctors hate him! Discover it for yourself.

2. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

When people assume you’re the monster but you’re not: “everybody calls me by my father’s name and I’m pissed.”

3. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

Twin flames getting together ends in haunting nightmares: the risks of meeting your other half.

4. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë

Man locks up his wife in the attic for years, is surprised when left at the altar by new girlfriend.
or
The true story behind his “crazy ex” that he doesn’t want you to know.

5. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

How NOT to propose to the love of your life, including mentioning the inferiority of her birth, and a recipe for the most EXCELLENT boiled potatoes you’ll ever see.

6. The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald

Man spends his whole life and fortune trying to get his ex back only to get dumped and die in a pool; don’t repeat his mistakes!

7. The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Feeling tired? Doctor discovers new side-effects of fatigue: seeing people in your wallpaper.

8. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

Russian high society ruined these people’s lives! Here’s how to find purpose in hay fields and faith instead.

9. The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, Edgar Allan Poe

10 reasons why trying to bring someone back to life is a terrible idea, from a scientific p.o.v.

10. Moby Dick, Herman Melville

The origin of American men’s obsession with big fish is not at all what you would expect!

11. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson

The simple trick to living life fully and becoming all the people you want to be.

12. Giovanni’s Room, James Baldwin

Step-by-step tutorial on how to get rid of your homophobic boss.

13. She, Henry Rider Haggard

Is matriarchy too dangerous for society? A group of hetero-cis men discuss the issue.

14. Metamorphoses, Ovid

You could be drinking your ancestors’ blood by eating berries: discover how that happened.

15. Paradise Lost, John Milton

Changes in temperatures might not be humans’ fault; the mystic origins of seasons.

• Cover of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde in the Oxford World’s Classics, 2008. Details from Self-Portrait, Maxwell Ashby Armfield, 1901. © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery/The Bridgeman Art Library.
• Cover of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley for the Penguin Books Clothbound edition.
• Cover of Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë, in the Classics collection of Wordsworth Editions.
• Cover for the 2006 edition of Jane Eyre in the Penguin Classics editions. Detail from Only a lock of hair, 1858, by Sir John Everett Millais. © Manchester Art Gallery/Bridgeman Images
• Cover of Pride and Prejudice in Cranford Edition, hardback. Illustration by Hugh Thomspon, adapted by Cristina Serrat.
• Cover of The Great Gatsby, deluxe edition illustrated by Adam Simpson, 2025.
• Cover of Anna Karenina, in the Macmillan Collector’s Library, 2017.
• Cover for the New York edition of Moby Dick, published independently, 2001. © SecretGardenbooks.
• Cover of Giovanni’s Room in the Penguin Modern Classics, 2007.
• Cover of She in the Oxford University Press edition, 2008. Picture from the 1965 movie She, Hammer Film Productions Ltd.
• Cover of Paradise Lost in the Arcturus Epic Classics, 2024. Illustration by Gustave Doré.

The reviews:

Work A:

Work B:

Here’s a list of titles to help you narrow down the answers, if you want:

Reviews have been edited for clarity and length. For the original reviews, go on https://www.goodreads.com.