Ophelia | Lisa Klein | Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Ophelia | Lisa Klein | An amazing twist on Shakespeare's Hamlet

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Ophelia

	Ophelia Lisa Klein Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, 2006 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 30 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

This book blew me away. It is the re-imagining of the story of Ophelia, from Shakespeare's play Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare Library). In the play, Ophelia is in love with Hamlet and ends up committing suicide because of his treatment of her and because he killed her father. Her character is a woman who is ruled by the thoughts and deeds of men. It is their deeds and rules that affect her and bring about her demise. In this story, Ophelia is a very strong character and we see the story of Hamlet through her eyes.

She is the daughter of Polonius, a foolish man who courts favor of those in power. She is motherless and her only other family is her brother, Laertes. Her childhood, though, is very happy because she is a tomboy and is free to learn beside her brother. She has a lot of freedom, which is rarely given to girls at this time. Her father is given a job in the court of the King of Denmark, and she has to leave this idyllic time and enter into a drafty, gloomy place. In fact, it is described as a prison and a place of intrigue and sadness.

Within a few years she is brought to the attention of Queen Gertrude and is made into a lady of the court. She also attracts the attention of Prince Hamlet. She and the Prince fall in love and are secretly married. The King's ghost appears on the night of their marriage, and Hamlet is obsessed with revenge. Ophelia has to sail through court politics to secure her place and her sanity.

Lisa Klein has interwoven lines from the play in the story and the main story stills stands, but by the end we know what happens to Ophelia. There is a lot of philosophical musings in the story about a woman's place compared to a man's, what is sin, forgiveness, obedience and God's will in ones life.

I think the story compelled me to see the play again and to have a happier vision of the character of Ophelia. I strongly recommend this book and you don't have to know Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare Library) to read it. I do believe that to read this alongside the reading of Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare Library) would be beneficial to the understandings and themes in this tragedy.

Reviewed by: Marta Morrison

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An amazing twist on Shakespeare's Hamlet

Ophelia is born in the year 1585 in the village of Elsinore. Her mother dies giving birth, and her father is distant and aloof, oftentimes absent from their home for days while seeking employment in the king's court. So Ophelia's older brother becomes her playmate and protector. They swim in the river, explore in the forest and run wild in the streets with other children. Their father does hire a tutor for Ophelia's brother, and though girls at this time usually are not educated, he gives his permission for Ophelia to learn as well, just to keep her out of trouble.

But life changes drastically when Ophelia turns eight. Her father finally gets a job working for King Hamlet, and the three of them move to Elsinore Castle.

Living at the Castle is so very different from their old life in the village. The castle is dark and drafty, yet filled with beautiful furniture and rugs, delicious food and drink, and people dressed in fancy clothes. Ophelia and her brother soon meet the king and queen at a banquet, along with their son, Prince Hamlet. Being around the same age, Ophelia's brother and the likable prince often engage in wrestling, archery and sword dueling. Hamlet even takes the time to tease starry-eyed Ophelia.

As Ophelia gets a little older, the queen takes notice and invites Ophelia to join her ladies-in-waiting. There Ophelia finally receives a bit of female guidance and learns to be a "proper lady." Ophelia could do without the endless hours of sewing, but she loves having access to books. In fact, when the queen finds out how well educated Ophelia is, she becomes one of the queen's favorites, spending hours reading aloud and sharing discussions with the queen.

The queen isn't the only one who notices Ophelia getting older; Prince Hamlet has his eye on her as well. But because she never would be accepted as a suitable match, Hamlet and Ophelia must keep their love a secret. With the help of Hamlet's trusted friend, Horatio, they dress as poor peasants and meet away from the castle in the orchards, gardens and an abandoned cottage. They soon decide to defy traditions and secretly elope.

But before they can gather the courage to announce their elopement, the king is murdered! Overcome with anger and grief, Hamlet becomes totally obsessed with discovering his father's killer and forgets his new bride. Ophelia falls into deep despair. But when the murderer begins to suspect that he or she may be exposed, Ophelia decides that her existence is worth saving and must escape for her very life.

Lisa Klein has done an incredible job with OPHELIA. She has taken one of Shakespeare's famous plays and written a tale that is a little more user friendly in today's world. Placing the story in young Ophelia's point of view will attract the female readers, especially when joining Ophelia in declaring a woman's life in the 1600s to be completely and unfairly ruled by men. Add castles, adventure, romance, murder and fleeing for one's life, and you have an amazing story.

--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author of FINDING MY LIGHT and THE BLACK

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beautiful

i loved this story and am grateful to the author for writing it. i've always felt that Ophelia had a story to tell which wasn't elaborated in the original Hamlet and the author gracefully and respectfully used genuine elements from the original, while ultimately creating a new identity for this elusive character. Ophelia very much has a mind of her own and is a strong and likeable character who perseveres in the face of tremendous loss and survives the madness that is the political situation in Denmark. it even helped me to understand the original story.

Lisa Klein's Ophelia is just short of great.

Lisa Klein's Ophelia is just short of great. It was a bit boring in the beginning, causing the reader to lose interest. But as the novel progresses, Klein seems to get into the groove of writing this novel. Although her writing was good, it wasn't great and somewhat lacked the true emotions of this mysterious girl. The concept for this book was good, answering all the unanswered questions from Shakespeare's play Hamlet, but it needed to be grounded more. It felt like Hamlet was too much like the night in shining armor, and not enough of a real person. Since real people, although good and loving, are far from the night in shining armor and have another side to them. I would recommend this book to middle school students and up, preferably who have a little bit of understanding about what the play Hamlet is about.

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A wonderful take on another side of a well known tale

I hardly put this book down. This story is Ophelia's tale and the scenes from Hamlet don't even come into play until almost halfway through the book. I think it sets you up for what happens in the famous play very well. This story feels real and I love the extra knowledge we get from Ophelia's side of the story. This book is beautifully written with aand has certain lilt of tongue but is still easy to read and envision. I was able to guess the ending but it did not detract from the story at all. I will be looking for Klein's next and will devour it as readily as this one!

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6

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