William

Facts and Assumptions

Facts

Love is his driving force and what he values most - This can be seen in all incarnations of William, including Spike. Love is what makes his world go round, baby. William loves with loyal devotion (and at times a bit obsessively). Only when all hope is lost and his heart is smashed into teeny tiny little pieces, does he give up. And sometimes not even then. This goes for non-romantic love too.

He's a passionate fellow - Underneath that shy and awkward exterior beats a passionate heart. You can see it threatening to bubble up in his scene with Cecily when he confesses his love. Just look at his face when he says [about his poetry re Cecily], "They're about how I feel."

He's a good man - When William says, "I may be a bad poet, but I'm a good man" I believe him. He's sweet, gentle, loyal, honest (he doesn't hide who he is), and takes good care of his mum. He is not without his faults, but he's a good man.

He's a Romantic Poet

He's a rebel in his own quiet way - A Romantic Poet is a rebel by default in Victorian times. Plus, there's the way he dresses (he seems to be more in line with Aesthetic movement) and the way he acts (he doesn't hide his hobby and refuses to take part in mainstream conversations that he finds distasteful). Men of the times were supposed to be macho and William makes no attempt to effect a macho exterior. He bucks convention and is a liberal for his times.

He's unpopular - William is not stylish and refuses to follow convention. He's effeminate, bookish, smart and intuitive, shy and awkward. He's emotional and impulsive (though he is responsible) and lacks what many would consider to be common sense. Although he can be pragmatic, he would not be seen as such due to being a big Victorian geek and following his heart. It's a recipe for unpopularity.

He's wealthy and part of the upper class - You can see it in the quality of his clothes (although they could be affordable to middle class), his house (definitely looks upper class), the parties he attends, and his ability to send a private coach for Dr. Gull. His social circle is obviously upper class and the classes do not mix. William is not titled, though.

He wears specticales - Judging by the kind of specticales he wears, William is farsighted (can see far away but not close up). He definitely needs them for reading. Based on FFL and LMPTM, I would say that he probably has a very slight vision impairment and requires them to see perfectly clear, although he can get along fine (when not reading or writing) without them. Since William likes to read and write an awful lot, I would say William wears his spectacles pretty much all the time.

He is an only child - No brothers or sisters are ever mentioned and William behaves very much like an only child, displaying aspects of both an oldest child (caretaking) and youngest child (being doted upon) in how he acts and is treated by his mum.

His father died, most likely when William was young - William's father is never mentioned, but since William is still living at home and taking care of his mum, I would assume his dad is dead. Based on how fused William and his mother are (how much they depend on each other) I would say that William was a boy when it happened. How young a boy is anyone's guess.

He lives in the suburbs of London - In FFL, William mentioned how he's heard tales of London pick-pockets, indicating that he doesn't live in the city. But I doubt he's an out-of-towner so I would say that he lives in the suburbs.

Most likely went to boarding school beginning at age 8 - This was typical for boys of his time period, class, and locale.

Surely he went to college (Oxford being a likely choice) - William seems to have a very Giles-like Oxford accent but he could have gone to Cambridge or another prestigious college.

He knows Greek and Latin (and probably other languages too) - It's likely that William knows all the romance languages (French, Spanish, Italian) and, despite the AtS episode Why We Fight (who's canon I discount on the basis of lameness), I would say German is likely as well. Hebrew may have also been likely if he took Bible studies classes where they studied the original text.

Born sometime in the 1850s - William is most often assumed to be anywhere from 25 -30 in 1880. Somtimes he's assumed to be in his early 20's. In any case, he would have had to have been born sometime in the 1850s.

Assumptions

Virginity - William is *assumed* to be a virgin but it's not impossible that he isn't. If William *isn't* a virgin, he likely lost it in the same way Perletwo's William did in A Night on the Town. If he *is* a virgin, it's most likely because William wouldn't go to a prostitute under any circumstances, mostly because of the ick factor of doing it with a stranger (who does it with a lot of other gents all the time for money) and because he's holding out for love. Or he could be waiting for marriage. Or he could just be repressed. At the very least, William hasn't had sex hardly at all if ever. In Destiny, Dru says he's been starved [for sex].

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