Orson Scott Card: Hamlet's Father

[beer good]

So apparently, Orson Scott Card has taken it upon himself to re-write Hamlet.

The goal seems to be a) to make the play "instantly comprehensible" so that it "will be much more fun to watch—because now you'll know what's really going on", and b) to use Shakespeare to support Card's current political opinions - namely, that gay people are evil.

Review

Questions? Comments?

 

[Will]

Addressing the opening para's of that essay, in both the original play, and quite a few big-screen versions, I never got the feeling that Hamlet was really close to his father, more upset that that particular power-base was gone. I did see Ralph Fiennes performing at the Hackney Empire in my school days (we were studying the play for A-Level) and his portrayal certainly seemed more sympathetic to those lines. But I digress...

This is kind of like when religious groups re-write the Bible to make it more fitting for their depiction of a modern audience. So that their audience can really see 'what's going on' too. And then changes in clauses, tense, completely alter the underlying meaning (well, if one could be interpreted) and you end up with something completely different... makes you wonder...

 

[sparkchaser]

His writing has slowly gotten worse over the years. Maybe he finally realized that since he can't write a decent sequel then he should "reimage" something already known.

This is kind of like when religious groups re-write the Bible to make it more fitting for their depiction of a modern audience. So that their audience can really see 'what's going on' too. And then changes in clauses, tense, completely alter the underlying meaning (well, if one could be interpreted) and you end up with something completely different... makes you wonder...

Aye.

 

[beer good]

This is kind of like when religious groups re-write the Bible to make it more fitting for their depiction of a modern audience. So that their audience can really see 'what's going on' too. And then changes in clauses, tense, completely alter the underlying meaning (well, if one could be interpreted) and you end up with something completely different... makes you wonder...

Ah yes, the Conservative Bible Project. :lol:

I've seen at least one Hamlet interpretation where they had the same actor play both Hamlet's father and Claudius, which put a pretty interesting spin on the situation...

 

[Peder]

The goal seems to be a) to make the play "instantly comprehensible" so that it "will be much more fun to watch—because now you'll know what's really going on", and b) to use Shakespeare to support Card's current political opinions - namely, that gay people are evil.

Review

Questions? Comments?

I've never had either of those problems in watching Shakespeare. Hamlets and Henry V have always been fully enjoyable in their own original. Excellent acting helps.

But since the Bible has been mentioned, The Message looks to me like a good rendition of the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs into current language (and nice typrography) plus insightful commmentary. And reworkings are not always bad -- Jesus Christ Superstar comes to mind. [End of what some might call tangent].