Moving through Time and Race: Othello and The Tempest adapted for New Millennials

Abstract

This research analyses three contemporary Shakespearean adaptations for young adults: Tracy Chevalier’s New Boy, Grace Tiffany’s Ariel and Jacqueline Carey’s Miranda and Caliban. I focus on how the concepts of time, plot and identity are treated by these authors, who adapted complex plays that deal with controversial themes, such as diverse forms of violence, for New Millennials. The first chapter represents an introduction to the importance of adaptations of Shakespeare’s works today, especially those meant for an audience of adolescents. In this section, the role of popular culture and, in particular, Young Adult literature for enriching the Shakespearean canon, the world of fanfiction as an instrument of re-creation of “performing” readers, and the educational applications and implications of rewritings are highlighted. The second chapter analyses the novels more closely with a special regard on the notions of race and equality with Othello and Caliban as two typical Shakespearean outcasts. The influence of adults in the young protagonists’ process of growth is explored. Then, a gender approach of the plays is provided with particular concerns on Miranda’s and Ariel’s socio-political significance. The third chapter discusses the changes and challenges that build the adaptation practice from play to novel; Chevalier’s, Tiffany’s and Carey’s different rhetorics of narration, their strategies of time and plot management and their critical approaches are examined.