Review
Allen
& Unwin
Age 13-15 For girls looking for a sentimental and romantic story based upon the imagined life of Ophelia, had she lived, then they need go no further. In this take on Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia and Hamlet become lovers, meeting in a hut dressed in country spun clothes for disguise, and marrying in secret, a la Romeo and Juliet. Pregnant and alone when Hamlet realises that his enemy is Claudius, the murderer of his father, and so must take a son's revenge; Ophelia takes mandragora to feign death. The luckless Horatio digs her up (wouldn't the weight of soil have killed her?) and helps revive her, and gathering all the things she requests, helps her to escape from Denmark. Dressed as a boy she goes to the Convent beyond Calais where she hears of the debacle that ends Hamlet's life and that of his mother, and her own brother Laertes.
I can imagine groups of girls would love it, taken up with the headstrong Ophelia as she gains control of her life, where none is allowed. But I prefer the original.
Fran Knight
May 04 2007
Ophelia by Lisa Klein
Allen
& Unwin Age 13-15 For girls looking for a sentimental and romantic story based upon the imagined life of Ophelia, had she lived, then they need go no further. In this take on Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia and Hamlet become lovers, meeting in a hut dressed in country spun clothes for disguise, and marrying in secret, a la Romeo and Juliet. Pregnant and alone when Hamlet realises that his enemy is Claudius, the murderer of his father, and so must take a son's revenge; Ophelia takes mandragora to feign death. The luckless Horatio digs her up (wouldn't the weight of soil have killed her?) and helps revive her, and gathering all the things she requests, helps her to escape from Denmark. Dressed as a boy she goes to the Convent beyond Calais where she hears of the debacle that ends Hamlet's life and that of his mother, and her own brother Laertes.
I can imagine groups of girls would love it, taken up with the headstrong Ophelia as she gains control of her life, where none is allowed. But I prefer the original.
Fran Knight
© Pledger
Consulting, 2007