Resurrecting Ophelia: rewriting Hamlet for Young Adult Literature

Abstract

This dissertation is concerned with understanding how the rewritings and adaptations of the Shakespearian masterpiece Hamlet have changed the figure of Ophelia, both in terms of the history of the character, both as for what regards its psychology, and how these new texts have made this literary figure suitable for novels written for young readers, especially those who are in their teenage or youth. Young Adult literature, in addition to becoming a real genre, distinct from the wider Children's literature (which originally was meant for readers of various ages, sometimes up to the older adolescents), has also sought new thematic horizons, more suitable for young readers. Consequently, adaptations, or in some cases appropriations, of literary classics may be considered a result of this modus-operandi, thus providing interesting subjects of research. In this field of studies Hamlet has a very important role since several texts in “second-degree”, as Genette defined those rewritings, of the Shakespearian play may be found in this literary genre. Therefore this thesis wants to emphasize how a secondary character as Ophelia has received more and more attention both from mainstream and from fringe writers, who have personalized its figure, contextualized (in more or less modern ages) its story and given it a new life. Starting from an analysis of the Shakespearean character and from the works of Mary Cowden Clarke and the Lambs, the focus of this study is concentrated on novels written in the 21st century, with the aim of understanding the evolution of Ophelia’s figure through various books: some writers have preferred to maintain Ophelia in the historical context where she had been originally collocated, others have thought it was more appropriate to bring this character closer to the experience of the reader, giving a more contemporary version of her figure, while others have given Ophelia another chance, even if post-mortem. It is possible then to recognize a new Ophelia, with greater charisma and personality, more disconnected from the male figures of power which surround her, even if some of the Shakespearian features are still preserved: the original “green girl” in Hamlet slowly becomes a woman who knows what she wants, a spirit that seeks freedom and a much more complex and elaborated character.