Review
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
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