Dating Hamlet: Ophelia's Story [Hardcover]

Lisa Fiedler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002

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.

Editorial Reviews

From 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.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up-Ophelia is generally regarded as an unfortunate, weak character. She is known as the young woman driven mad by her love for Hamlet and to despair over her father's murder. The anger unleashed by her suicide leads her brother to agree to fight Hamlet with a poisoned rapier, a precipitating factor in the ultimate death of every major character in one of Shakespeare's great tragedies. However, Fiedler's Ophelia is a woman in love, willing to stand by her man, feign madness, and do whatever is necessary to force Claudius to admit to his despicable crimes. Dating Hamlet is an intelligent, inventive roller-coaster ride for teens who know the original story. They will revel in the twists that Fiedler adds to explain the characters' actions. The story will appeal to readers who enjoyed fractured fairy tales such as Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted (HarperCollins, 1997), which demand an understanding of the backstory. It will also lead readers into yet more complicated literary revisions such as Alan Gordon's Thirteenth Night (St. Martin, 1998). Fans of the Bard will applaud this highly imaginative, lyrical text that plays with the story without damaging it.
Betsy Fraser, Calgary Public Library, Canada
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805070540
• ISBN-13: 978-0805070545
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #731,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting turn of events, January 17, 2006

By 

Anne-Marie Gilliland (Near D.C., USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dating Hamlet: Ophelia's Story (Hardcover)

I normally put down any book that I realise is written in first person, with a few exceptions. It takes a certain amount of skill to write in the first person and sound like a character, a character I am willing to deal with for an entire book.

Ophelia's voice in "Dating Hamlet" was at once engaging and easy to follow, inspite of a pretty good attempt to mirror Shakespearan english. (Mind you it isn't perfect and the characters do not, except when being a bit silly, speak in verse). The book is the author's effort to give the power back to the female characters that she had encountered in the classics, Ophelia is one of the most unempowered women in Shakespeare's whole opus. To empower her took alot of back plot that was not in the original work.

With few exceptions it works really well, in my opinion. One example being when Hamlet is making his first mad speech to himself in the court and looks up (a gesture I remember) he is actually speaking to Ophelia who has hidden herself up in the gallery of the throne room. As I was reading this I was imagining how this could be staged in tandem with the play, how a director might alter Ophelia and Hamlet's actions to allow the audience to know, that Ophelia was in on the plot. (I am inclined to this anyways, having in yesteryear written a paper taking that side, just for the outrageousness of the idea)

Mind you, a few moments are a bit too contrived, but it wasn't so painful as the rest of the book was very enjoyable, and remarkably realistic. The ending is probably the most contrived bit about the whole work, but I am not going to argue with it, in fact I wouldn't mind reading her other book about Juliet.

It was also amusing to see that the crux of this book rested on a frequent plot device of Shakespeare, one that is utilized in Hamlet. That being the play with in the play. We have here, the traditional play used to catch Claudius, and Hamlet's play acting at being mad but also--Ophelia, Laertes, the Gravedigger, Horatio and Ophelia's lady in waiting, Anne, in on the plot. A whole new cast of inner play players.

The book is an easy read, I picked it up on my dinner break and finished it before going to bed. Enjoyable, probably more so for anyone who is rather more than less familiar with "Hamlet."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hamlet - but with less deaths and a happy ending!, April 15, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Dating Hamlet: Ophelia's Story (Hardcover)

Dating Hamlet is a great read and it's the kind of book you can read again and again. I first read this book when I was 10 and now I'm nearly 13 and I have read it again I really understand and appreciate the book. The story is very good because even though I loved the Shakespeare play,and this book gives more depth into the characters and Ophelia is portayed as a much stronger person than she is in the play. It is a very moving book in some parts, like at the funeral of Ophelia.
I like the way Lisa Fielder has wrote it, by using the proper language and writing with Ophelia's thoughts and emotions.
I would recommend this 'Dating Hamlet' highly as it is such an excellent book you can read over and over again and still get new things from it. I hope Fielder writes a sequel!
It may be predicable, but what's wrong with a happy ending?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great reimagining, May 10, 2009

By 

Dawn Cline "fantasy book lover32" (creve coeur,IL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dating Hamlet: Ophelia's Story (Hardcover)

I have read and seen hamlet many times and people who are fond of them may not get or like this story but I always thought that Ophelia was a deeper character than what was shown and we get it in this book without giving too much away hamlet and ophelia work together and apart to try to get king Clauidus to admit to a murder (I will not say whose murder in case you have not seen the movie or read the play) I thought it was a good read and an interesting reimagining of the story! I think it is a good way to get kids interested in Shakespeare and hopfully will encourage them to read some of the greatest plays ever written!