Dating Hamlet: Ophelia's Story Book

Ophelia lives to tell the tale of what happened at Elsinore

"The nights at Elsinore are longer than anywhere else.

I have stayed awake these many weeks, which has aided me greatly in my portrayal of one who has gone daft. For my skin is pale as fresh daisy petals, and my eyes sink inward, rimmed by bruise-like swells of purple. The servants and courtiers whisper that surely, Ophelia . . . most beautified Ophelia . . . has lost touch."

It isn’t easy dating a prince, especially when that prince is Hamlet. It could easily drive a young girl to madness, or so it would seem.

Since the death of his father, Ophelia’s beloved Hamlet has descended into a deep depression. To make matters worse, the Danish court is filled with lies and deceit. Was Hamlet’s father murdered by King Claudius? Is Polonius truly the father of Laertes? Who can be trusted as a friend? And who is to be feared as an enemy? It is up to clever Ophelia, with the help of her friends, to find a way to save her prince and herself. Only then can she finally reveal the truth about what really happened in the famed castle at Elsinore.

With Shakespeare’s classic play as a frame, Lisa Fiedler gives voice to Ophelia in a gripping novel full of romance, ghosts, and a touch of alchemy.

Publishers Weekly

Fiedler (Lucky Me) keeps the framework of Shakespeare's classic play intact, but in this fun, feminist retelling, Ophelia narrates. Hamlet's uncle still murders his father, the king, and marries his mother, and Hamlet is called upon by his father's ghost to avenge him. Here, however, it is Ophelia who first tells Hamlet of his father's ghost (she observes Horatio's encounter with the King's apparition from a hiding place). And when Hamlet sets out to prove his uncle's guilt, feigning madness and staging a play that mimics the murder, Ophelia helps him; together they compose the letter, "proving" his madness (addressed to "beautified Ophelia"), incorporating here, as in other scenes, Shakespeare's original language. Fiedler also intermittently offers insight into several of Shakespeare's double entendres (e.g., when Hamlet, acting mad, asks Ophelia whether she is "honest"-virtuous as well as truthful). The author adds a scene in which the two consummate their love, and also lays the groundwork for Ophelia's mad speech about flowers in Act IV, Scene V of the original play. Fiedler takes other liberties: chief among them, Ophelia only fakes her death, calling suicide "a cowardly act"; and also fashions a servant/confidante and new lineage for Ophelia (here her true father is a grave-digger). Those familiar with the original Hamlet will most appreciate Fiedler's imaginative approach, as she pays homage to the Bard with clever cribbing and her own twist on Shakespearean language. Ages 12-up. (Nov.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.