Cultural Dessert

‘Hag-Seed’ by Margaret Atwood

26 January 2022

I have read a few of the Hogarth Shakespeare series of books in which contemporary novelists are invited to re-imagine Shakespeare plays, including ‘The Gap of Time: The Winter's Tale Retold’ by Jeanette Winterson and 'Vinegar Girl: The Taming of the Shrew Retold' by Anne Tyler (reviewed here in July 2016). But I tend to find loosely disguised Shakespeare stories in a modern setting, with clever contemporary variations of the character names, all a bit cringe-worthy. The exception is ‘Hag-Seed: The Tempest Retold’ by Margaret Atwood, which I have just finished reading. Rather than simply transplanting the story to modern-day Canada, Margaret Atwood has the characters in her allegory version of ‘The Tempest’ (none of whom have recognisable variations of the names of Shakespeare’s characters) putting on a production of ‘The Tempest’ in a prison. The result is less a thinly-disguised retelling, more an entertaining and engaging study guide, as the prisoners discuss the characters in the play, its themes and meanings. I don’t know ‘The Tempest’ that well - I only saw the play for the first time in 2012 (reviewed here in April 2012) and, although I have seen it a couple of times since, it is not my favourite Shakespeare play. But ‘Hag-Seed’ certainly helped me to understand ‘The Tempest’ much more clearly. The device of prisoners rehearsing a play reminded me of ‘The Island’ by Athol Fugard - which I saw performed at the Edinburgh Fringe many years ago - in which two cellmates are preparing for a performance of Sophocles' ‘Antigone’. ‘Hag-Seed’ is a funny and enjoyable tale, not least because the main character - theatre director Felix Phillips - knows he is living the plot of ‘The Tempest’ because he is using it to enact a satisfying revenge on the colleagues who have usurped his position.

Labels: Books

posted by Robin Simpson @ 5:13 pm