Re-tellings: Good or Evil?

 I have been on a major Shakespeare kick of late, in case you haven't noticed lol. But this time (it's a re-occurring thing) I've discovered a lot of really cool re-tellings of Shakespeare's plays that I thought I would share here.

I have to start out by saying that not all re-tellings are created equal. Some can be clumsy and more than a little ridiculous. But some are actually really brilliant and thought provoking. Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray is a case in point.

The book is told from the point of view of Hamlet's on-again-off-again girlfriend Ophelia. And it is set in modern times. Not gonna lie, I was a little skeptical about the whole thing.But I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did. Ophelia was a very likable , feisty sort of character but she wasn't one sided. She was genuinely torn between her father and Hamlet and it seemed very real. I also found Hamlet likable, surprisingly enough. I felt bad for him.

What surprised me most about this book was how intense it was. I mean, I've read the play and everthing but I was expecting this book to be fluffier somehow. It kept me on the edge of my seat, rooting for the characters. It sticks pretty close to the play which is good but it also makes it rough at times because some of the dialouges and situations don't quite fit in the modern settings. That is easily forgiven, though, becauuse some things are explained better in this verision. For example the scene where, in the play,
Ophelia( driven mad by all the crazy stuff going on around her) confronts Queen Gertrude and King Claudius with  basket of flowers and crazy limericks. In this version, this is explained by a depression induced drinking binge. Quite frankly, I find this more believeable than the original she's-crazy-all-of-the-sudden expalination.

The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is really heart breaking. They are really cute in the beginning and when everything spirals into maddness it's really sad. Ophelia is faced with hating Hamlet for killing her family  and still loving the person he was before her world fell apart.
This book is so great!

Oh where to start? I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! I'm not kidding. It's fanatastic!
O,Juliet by Robin Maxwell is the best kind of re-telling. It's based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, for the record:-) It takes place in Florence around the same time as the original. The story is based around Juliet Capelletti, the spirited daughter of a well-off silk merchant and Romeo Monticecco , the son of her enemy. Of course the two meet and fall completely, head-over-heels in love.

What I like about Maxwell's Juliet is she is a little older than Shakespeare's(18) and she is well educated and VERY opinionated but still seems young and full of life at the same time. In Maxwell's version Juliet finds her equal in Romeo, and that -along with a healthy dose of phyisicial attraction- is what draws the two so closley together.

I've always wondered what exactly was going on in the heads of the characters and this book answers that perfectly. It filled in all the gaps. But this book isn't a perfect mirror of Shakespeare's play and it isn't meant to be. The story of Romeo and Juliet was in existence long before the famous play and the book draws on these as well. A perfect example is the ending. The lover's reunite one last itme before the poison the Romeo took prior to Juliet's waking takes effect. It's one of the most beautiful and heart breaking things I have ever read. You just need to read it!

And finally...

Dude, this movie is awesome! 10 Things I Hate About You is a re-telling of Shakespeare's The Tameing of the Shrew. This definitly the right way to do a re-telling! It sticks close enough to the original that you can definitly see the similarities but not so much that the story line seems out of place in the modern setting, which takes place at a highschool. And it's hilarious! I hate to say it but I liked Katarina more in this version than Zefferelli's. Kat seemed smart and sarcastic in this version as oppsed to just miserable.




If you are a little weary of Shakespeare you should check these out-they might even inspire you to check out the original.