In Atwood’s Hag-Seed, Prospero is a widower theater director named Felix, and his usurper is his erstwhile business partner, Tony. When a shipwreck strands Antonio and assorted other characters on Prospero’s island, Prospero uses his magic and his servants to create a magical play for the visitors, one that punishes the wicked and rewards the good, and restores Prospero to his dukedom. There, Prospero enslaves the spirit Ariel and the monster Caliban and forces them to do his bidding. Briefly: Prospero is the duke of Milan, but instead of ruling he spends all his time studying magic, so his brother Antonio usurps him, sending Prospero and his daughter Miranda to a magical island. Hag-Seed sees a production of The Tempest going up at a prisonĪtwood helpfully includes a summary of The Tempest at the end of Hag-Seed, if you’ve forgotten your high school English class. Still, Atwood’s thoughtfulness and playfulness keep Hag-Seed from ever getting boring. Most troublingly, its title suggests that it’s all about Caliban, but the novel fails to live up to that promise in any compelling way. Registration for April’s session, exploring Ethan Hawke’s new novel, A Bright Ray of Darkness, opens on Tuesday, March 9 at 4pm.That’s not to say that Hag-Seed is perfect. Words, Words, Words discusses Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed on March 4, 2021.

Q&A: Tracy Chevalier on New Boy, her retelling of Shakespeare’s Othello.

Macbeth: Jo Nesbø retells the Scottish Play.

Excerpt – Miranda in Milan by Katharine DuckettĭISCOVER other Hogarth Shakespeare editions.

Excerpt – Mad Blood Stirring by Simon Mayo.

Prospero’s epilogue as Shakespeare’s farewell? Excerpt – This is Shakespeare by Emma Smith.

Strange Shakespeare: Transforming The Tempest, Classifying Caliban.

Picturing The Tempest in the Folger’s collection.

A Book Behind Bars: The Robben Island Shakespeare.

Shakespeare in prison: How Richard II and Macbeth speak to those in solitary confinement.

Episode 115: Simon Mayo: “Mad Blood Stirring”ĮXPLORE related articles and collection items.

Episode 75: The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Digital Tempest.

Episode 1: The Robben Island Shakespeare.

To prepare for the discussion, we have pulled together a list of Folger resources related to the themes found in this innovative take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

On Mathe Folger hosts its Virtual Book Club, featuring a discussion on Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood.

Hagseed online