Ophelia
by Lisa Klein
by Lisa Klein
OPHELIA by Lisa Klein
Category: Historical
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 10/31/06
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Reviewed by: Marta Morrison
Rating: 5 Stars
This book blew me away. It is the re-imagining of the story of Ophelia, from Shakespeare's play Hamlet. 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 to read it. I do believe that to read this alongside the reading of
Hamlet would be beneficial to the understandings and themes in this tragedy.
Category: Historical
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 10/31/06
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Reviewed by: Marta Morrison
Rating: 5 Stars
This book blew me away. It is the re-imagining of the story of Ophelia, from Shakespeare's play Hamlet. 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 to read it. I do believe that to read this alongside the reading of
Hamlet would be beneficial to the understandings and themes in this tragedy.
