ophelia teaching guide

TEACHING GUIDE FOR

Opheliaij

Novel by Lisa Klein

Guide prepared by Elizabeth Poe, PhD

Children’s and Young Adult Literature Consultant

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ijijijOphelia Teaching Guide 11/17/06 11:10 AM

SynopsisPrologue

St. Emilion, France, November 1601

Ophelia is in a convent in St. Emilion, France, when she receives

a letter from Horatio, who writes of the ruin of the royal court of

Denmark: Hamlet has killed King Claudius with a sword

poisoned by the king himself; Queen Gertrude drank the poison

intended for Hamlet by the king and is also dead; Ophelia’s

brother, Laertes, and Prince Hamlet have slain each other with

poisoned swords; and Fortinbras of Norway now rules Denmark.

Horatio’s letter stuns Ophelia, sending her into dazed dreams of

Elsinore Castle, where she served Queen Gertrude. To assuage

her pain and sorrow, Ophelia vows to write the truth about her

sixteen years of life and the story that has brought her from

Denmark to France.

Part One

Elsinore, Denmark, 1585-1601

Ophelia’s mother died in childbirth, leaving her with her father,

Polonius, and her brother, Laertes. They live in a fine house in the

village of Elsinore. When Polonius gains a position as minister to

King Hamlet, the family moves to the Castle Elsinore.

Ophelia gains the queen’s favor and becomes a member of

her household. Elnora, Lady Valdemar, is entrusted with the

continuation of Ophelia’s education, which includes teaching her

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Ophelia Teaching Guide 11/17/06 11:10 AM

courtly behavior. She also shares her knowledge of medicines and

herbs. Because Ophelia knows Latin and French, the queen asks

her to read devotional books for her and her ladies as they

embroider. At night Ophelia reads tales of love and desire

secretly to the queen, who trusts her not to reveal her passion

for romance. Ophelia learns the ways of the world by observing

the behavior of the men and women at court, and much of their

behavior resembles what she reads in books. Ophelia loves the

queen and keeps her secrets, even from her father, who expects

her to be his spy.

While Ophelia, now sixteen, learns of love and the world through

books, Hamlet, now twenty-two, is learning about the world by

studying at the German University of Wittenberg and by

traveling to England and France with Horatio. One afternoon

Hamlet and Horatio enter the room where Ophelia and Cristiana

are sitting. Hamlet is impressed by Ophelia’s wit as she enters

into a debate on the nature of love with him and Horatio. When

Hamlet leaves, Ophelia longs to see him again. They meet in the

garden, where Ophelia feels she is smitten by Cupid’s dart.

Ophelia and Hamlet continue to meet in secret. The queen

begins to suspect that Ophelia is in love; when Ophelia does not

confide in Gertrude, she falls out of her favor. Hamlet returns to

Wittenberg and everything changes suddenly, when King Hamlet

is found dead in the orchard.

Part Two

Elsinore, Denmark, May 1601-November 1601

The death of King Hamlet shakes the state of Denmark to its

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very foundations. Queen Gertrude also leaves the throne and

secludes herself in her grief. Claudius, King Hamlet’s brother, is

elected king. Less than two months after King Hamlet’s funeral,

Gertrude marries Claudius. At the wedding festivities, Hamlet

and Ophelia steal away to a far tower, where, after vowing their

love for each other, Ophelia and Hamlet make love. Ophelia and

Hamlet are shriven by the village priest, then secretly married,

with Horatio as their only witness. That night Hamlet sees the

ghost of his dead father. It tells him he has been murdered by

Claudius, who poured poison into his ears. Hamlet swears to

avenge his father. Heartsick, Ophelia vows to keep the secret of

Hamlet’s plan and to aid him, as a wife is bound to do.

In an attempt to distract Hamlet from his sworn revenge, Ophelia

suggests they hide their marriage by pretending to court, so she

can show herself a virtuous daughter by denying Hamlet. Hamlet

offers to appear mad with love for her, or just generally mad, in

order to perplex Polonius and Claudius. Polonius takes the bait

when Ophelia tells him of Hamlet’s amorous behavior toward her.

He suggests he and Claudius spy on a meeting between Hamlet

and Ophelia. Ophelia is unable to warn Hamlet, and the meeting

does not go as the lovers had planned. Ophelia turns out to be

the one who is now completely perplexed by Hamlet’s erratic

behavior. Revenge, not love, is his main concern. He seems truly

mad, not only to her, but to Claudius as well.

Hamlet arranges for a troupe of actors to act out the murder of a

king by pouring poison into his ears. Hamlet considers Claudius’s

outrage upon seeing this scene to be proof of his guilt. Ophelia

and Horatio realize Hamlet’s play has put them, as those who

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have consorted with Hamlet, in mortal danger. Later that evening,

Hamlet thinks he sees a spy hiding behind an arras in his

mother’s room and stabs it with his sword, killing Polonius. Thus,

Ophelia’s husband has killed her father. Hamlet is ordered to

leave Denmark for England without Horatio and without

knowing that Ophelia is pregnant with his child. Now Ophelia

takes refuge in feigned madness, which feeds into the plan she

devises for her escape from Denmark, a plan to which Horatio

pledges his assistance.

In her madwoman guise, Ophelia distributes meaning-laden

flowers and herbs to Laertes, Gertrude, and Claudius; runs from

the castle; drinks a potion that makes her appear dead; and

throws herself from the willow tree into the brook. Horatio

unearths her body at nightfall and, fearing that she may be truly

dead, takes her to Mechtild. The wise woman administers an

antidote for Ophelia’s deathlike slumber. Having deciphered the

language of flowers Ophelia used at the castle, Gertrude has

guessed Ophelia’s game and comes to Mechtild’s cottage,

seeking the truth. When she finds Ophelia there, Gertrude tells

her that Hamlet loved her and gives her a bag of gold to help her

start her new life. Ophelia cuts her hair and, posing as a boy,

journeys to France, where she is taken in by the nuns in the

convent at St. Emilion. Only Horatio knows who she really is and

where she now resides.

Part Three

St. Emilion, France, 1601-1602

Grateful to be safe at the convent, she tells no one her true

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identity or that she is with child. She reveals only that her name

is Ophelia. She follows the rules of the convent, trying to pray

constantly as the nuns do, but her mind remains troubled.

Ophelia grieves deeply over the news from Horatio that Hamlet,

Laertes, Gertrude and Claudius are all dead. Mother Ermentrude

appoints Sister Isabel as Ophelia’s guide as she tries to regain her

strength and discover God’s purpose for her. Ophelia is

concerned that Therese, a servant with a twisted leg, refuses to

eat. Therese is given to having visions of God and claims the

blood on her palms is a miracle sent from God. Ophelia wonders

if these visions arise from religious conviction or madness.

Ophelia grapples with feelings of guilt over her past actions. After

much thought, Ophelia suggests she might use her knowledge of

plants and herbs to help ease the nuns’ physical pains. Thus

Ophelia becomes the nuns’ physician, gaining the sisterhood she

has always been denied. The nuns vote to continue providing

Ophelia refuge. But Count Durufle, the convent’s patron, and

Bishop Garamond visit the convent to question Ophelia. Against

the count’s will, the bishop allows Ophelia to remain in the con-

vent. When the child is born, Ophelia realizes that the baby is a

gift of life, not a punishment. She names the baby Hamlet and

reveals he is a prince of Denmark.

Ophelia attends to Therese at her deathbed. When Therese

despairs, Ophelia offers her Hamlet. Therese takes the child,

declaring him her salvation, and dies with him in her arms. Bright

beads of blood form on her palms. Sister Marguerite vows to

write the story of Therese’s miraculous death. Marguerite reveals

to Ophelia that she is the daughter of a prince of Sweden whose

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reputation was ruined by Fortinbras, prince of Norway, who now

rules Denmark. Ophelia tells Marguerite that she has no intention

of returning to Denmark, where Hamlet’s life would be in danger.

Epilogue

St. Emilion, May 1605

Ophelia and three-year-old Hamlet now live in the stone cottage

near the convent gate. Ophelia is both steward and physician

for the convent. Mother Ermentrude used Gertrude’s money to

set up an apothecary for Ophelia, who is paid for her services

and saves her earnings should she and Hamlet want to leave

St. Emilion. One day Horatio surprises her as she works in the

garden. He tells Ophelia that Hamlet and Laertes forgave each

other before they died, and the traitors Rosencrantz and

Guildenstern are dead. The Danes are now seeking to overthrow

Fortinbras. Horatio kisses her and is relieved to learn Ophelia has

not taken vows. The three of them stand together in silence,

looking ahead to a future full of hope.

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CommentaryShakespearean Connections

Lisa Klein plucks Ophelia from Shakespeare’s Hamlet and

breathes life into a literary character who has intrigued readers of

Hamlet for hundreds of years. Klein gives Ophelia a past, a

present, and a future—extending her story with her thoughts and

feelings. In Ophelia, we learn that Ophelia is not dead after all,

that she was secretly married to Hamlet soon after the wedding

of Gertrude and Claudius, that she bore Hamlet’s child while in

a nunnery in France, and that she eventually unites with Horatio.

It is unnecessary to have read Hamlet in order to understand and

have an engaging reading experience with Ophelia. The novel can

certainly stand on its own — although it is so delightfully imbued

with Shakespearean characteristics, references, and echoes that it

may lead readers to Shakespeare quite naturally.

Ophelia is steeped in Shakespeare in ways that are readily

accessible to teens. It contains just enough complexity of plot —

replete with the twists and contrivances that make Shakespeare’s

plays intriguing — to make it challenging but not enigmatic

reading. The novel echoes Shakespeare’s plays when Ophelia

and Horatio orchestrate her feigned suicide á la Romeo and Juliet;

when Ophelia and Hamlet devise a plot to embarrass her enemy

Cristiana and her suitors, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, which is

reminiscent of A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and when Ophelia

disguises herself as a boy, as do heroines in comedies such as

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All’s Well That Ends Well. But because these ploys are somewhat

pared down in the novel, they are easier to follow than the

highly intricate plot devices found in Shakespeare’s plays.

The language in Ophelia also captures the essence of Shakespeare,

without being overwhelming. Words such as arras, phrases like

“How now,” and sentences with syntax such as “He has no love

for his uncle” provide the flavor of Shakespearean language, but

much of the wording is subtly modernized (“Go to a nunnery.

Go!” rather than “Get thee to a nunnery”) and expertly trimmed

of what contemporary teens may view as the Bard’s linguistic

excesses. Witty exchanges and clever wordplay figure prominently,

and famous passages such as Hamlet’s “What a Piece of Work Is

Man” soliloquy are expertly woven into the dialogue. The result

is a highly enjoyable language experience that will appropriately

challenge many teen readers and ready them for the reading of

Shakespeare himself in due time.

Not for Teens Only

Although it is accessible to teens, Ophelia will appeal to adult

readers as well. English teachers may want to use it for teacher

book discussion groups in which they probe the novel’s

multileveled connections with Hamlet and other Shakespearean

plays. Mother/daughter reading groups might find the

relationships between Ophelia and her various substitute

mothers to be of particular interest. It could provide fascinating

discussion for book clubs that have read adult novels, such as

Gregory McGuire’s Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch

of the West, that expand the story of literary characters.

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A Cautionary Note

Because Ophelia offers such a rich literary experience, teachers

may be tempted to try to do too much with it and thereby

diminish the pleasure their students derive from reading it. The

following suggestions are offered to help the students appreciate

the novel more fully. Teachers will want to take cues from

their students and select suggestions that will engage but not

overwhelm them. It is not advisable to try to explore every

literary aspect of the novel, as this may decrease students’

enjoyment not only of Ophelia and but of literature in general.

Teaching SuggestionsIntroducing the Novel

Ophelia is a novel that can stand on its own apart from Hamlet,

so there is no need to introduce it in the context of Hamlet.

Instead, grab students’ attention by reading the prologue aloud.

Then ask them to free write in their journals, expressing their

thoughts about the story to be told.

Reading the Novel

As students read, have them record their responses to each of the

book’s three parts in their journals. Urge them to express their

personal reaction to what is happening in that section, their

impressions of the characters, and what they expect to happen.

They may also want to write about personal associations or

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emotional connections that arise as they read. Encourage them to

discuss their thoughts, feelings, and questions related to each

section with other students in small-group literature circles.

Exploring the Novel

After students have read the entire novel, help them deepen their

experience with it by exploring it via a variety of literary activities.

Literary Themes, Motifs, and Imagery

Ophelia is rich in literary themes, motifs, and imagery that can

provide material for interesting discussions, formal literary analysis

essays, and creative projects. Here are some literary considerations

you might want to suggest and ways to explore them:

Devoted Friends

Throughout the novel, Horatio is kind to and protective of

Ophelia. When they are children and Hamlet fails to

attend to the pansies she gives him when he passes by in

a procession on horseback, Horatio tells her, “Do not

waste your tears, little girl. . . . We boys are ever careless of

flowers.” He then seeks to comfort her further by taking

her hand and pointing out that hers was not the only gift

the prince neglected and explaining that Hamlet is unable

to carry any of the many presents people bestowed on

him as he passed. Beginning with this scene, explore the

complex relationships among Ophelia, Hamlet, and

Horatio and discuss how the theme of devoted friendship

contributes to the novel’s satisfying ending.

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The Garden of Eden

In the prologue, Ophelia laments, “Alas my Hamlet is

dead! And with him all of Elsinore ruined, like Eden after

man’s fall.” Klein deftly threads the Garden of Eden motif

throughout Ophelia. Interested students might want to

trace references to the Garden of Eden and the fabled

serpent and develop a dramatic reading based on these

references.

Appearance versus Reality

When Hamlet and Ophelia meet alone in the garden, he

tells her he wears a mask for all the world except her.

Later, Horatio says, “You know, Ophelia, that nothing is

as it seems at Elsinore.” Suggest students work in pairs to

discern how many ways Klein addresses questions related

to the theme of appearance versus reality. Have each pair

present some aspect of this theme to the rest of the class.

They might do this by visually portraying the contradiction,

by acting it out, or by explaining how it advances the

plot in Ophelia.

The Nature of Madness

As she writes her story, Ophelia frequently contemplates

the nature of madness. Ask for a student to pretend to be

Ophelia and deliver a treatise on madness in which she

discusses how madness can be caused by love, the lust

for revenge, or religious fervor. Ophelia might use her

own attempt to play the role of a madwoman as part of her

discourse.

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Ill-fated Love

Because Hamlet is prince of Denmark and Ophelia is not

nobly born, their courtship is ill fated. The topic of

marriages arranged for political and familial benefit recurs

throughout the novel, as it does in much of literature.

Ask students to think of other pieces of literature where

marriage is ruled by custom in a way that dooms the

prospects of young lovers.

Freedom

Early in their relationship, Ophelia tells Hamlet she feels

like a caged bird at Elsinore. Later she realizes Elsinore is

also a gilded cage for Hamlet, because he is not free to

love and marry as he chooses. Mother Ermentrude tells

Ophelia that the truth will set her free. She also says

that with obedience comes perfect freedom. Students

interested in the concept of freedom may want to create a

scrapbook that features Ophelia’s thoughts on freedom

and illustrate them with collages fashioned from magazine

images.

Courtly Love

When Queen Gertrude says, “No, they will never marry.

It is the nature of love not to be satisfied so easily,” she is

espousing the philosophy of courtly love. Because the queen

laughs in response to her brother-in-law Claudius’s overtures,

Ophelia wonders if perhaps Gertrude imagines herself

like a lady in the sonnet who is desired by a man who

cannot have her. Suggest students explore the literary motif

of courtly love and prepare a list of Rules for Courtly Love.

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Women as Inferior Beings

Ophelia sighs “to think of the insecure state of women,

who must always abide the earthly authority of men.” The

inferior status of woman is a topic frequently addressed in

the novel. Students interested in women’s issues may want

to hold a forum to compare the state of women in the early

seventeenth century, as depicted in the novel, and their

own perceptions of the status of contemporary women.

Darkness and Light

From Hamlet’s black clothing to the nuns’ white veils, dark

and light imagery occurs frequently throughout Ophelia.

Students interested in this concept may want to chart the

imagery relating to darkness and light in the novel.

Celebrating Language Arts

Language

Unusual Words and Terms

Have students create a glossary for the unusual words and

terms they encounter while reading Ophelia. Stomacher, limn,

chatelaine, arras, posset, and oblate are examples of possible

glossary entries. Suggest they supply drawings to augment

the glossary entries whenever possible.

The Maxims of Polonius

Ophelia’s father tries to get her to memorize wise sayings

for her own edification. The first of these she mentions is

“Do not gaze at the sun, lest you go blind, but stand in its

light and let it warm you.” Compile a handbook of

Polonius’s maxims gleaned from the novel. Students may

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want to add words of wisdom espoused by their own

fathers — or mothers, teachers, and religious leaders.

Wordplay

The following scene, which takes place in the labyrinth, is

an example of the wordplay that abounds in Ophelia

and gives the novel a Shakespearean flavor. Hamlet and

Ophelia are talking:

“You amaze me, Ophelia,” he said.

“I did lead you into this maze, that is true. And now

I am lost here.”

. . . .

“No, I am lost, and you are found. For at the center of

this twisting path, I have discovered . . . you.”

Encourage students to find other examples of wordplay

and analyze their meanings and the wit of those who

engage in this verbal repartee. Have them read these

passages aloud for their classmates’ enjoyment.

The Language of Flowers

Ophelia frequently uses flowers to express her thoughts or

make a point. She first does this when she tries to give

Hamlet a bouquet of pansies, saying, “Thoughts for the

prince. Pansies for you, my lord. Think of me.” Queen

Gertrude understands the metaphoric messages Ophelia

conveys when she distributes rue and daisies, fennel

and columbines to Claudius and herself. Using the

explanations given throughout the novel for the meanings

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associated with flowers and herbs, create a glossary called

“The Language of Flowers”.

Composition

The Importance of Writing

When she begins to write the story of her life, Ophelia

comments, “Writing is like applying leeches to the mind,

to cure its grief and draw out humors that cloud the

understanding.” Ask students to consider this passage and

suggest they free write about times when writing may have

been cathartic or clarifying for them.

Becoming a Lady

When Elnora takes over Ophelia’s education, she must

transform her from a tomboy into a lady. She tells Ophelia

that “What you must learn of proper decorum would fill

volumes.” As she tells her own story, Ophelia records

Elnora’s instructions and rules for courtly conduct.

Suggest a group of students pretend they are Elnora, and

using her teachings and expectations, create a small

volume entitled “The Art of Being a Lady, by Elnora,

Lady Valdemar”.

Healing with Herbs and Plants

At the end of her story, Ophelia says she would like to

write a compendium containing the knowledge she has

gained about healing with herbs and plants. She has

included much of this information already. Paying special

attention to the attributes she ascribes to particular herbs

and plants, sort through her story and pick out the cures

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and remedies she describes. Then compile the medicinal

compendium Ophelia would like to write.

Reading

Ophelia’s Education

Ophelia is quite well educated for a female who was not

from a noble family. She is tutored at home with Laertes,

in the castle by Gertrude and Elnora, and at the convent

by Mother Ermentrude and the sisters. She is given the

freedom to read widely in both Queen Gertrude’s

library, which contains both devotional books and bawdy

French tales about courtly love, and the convent library,

which holds classic as well as religious literature. Paying

particular attention to what she has read, have students

trace the development of Ophelia’s education.

Mythology

Ophelia understands mythological references such as

Diana the Huntress; Janus, the god of beginnings; and

Hyperion, the god of the sun. Suggest students further

their own knowledge of mythology by reading some

original stories from Greek mythology.

Performance

Drama

Several types of drama occur throughout the novel.

Students interested in the theater may want to compare

and contrast the play given at the castle with the pageant

presented at the convent or examine the dramas Hamlet

and Ophelia devise for themselves and their acquaintances.

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Encourage students to perform the plays or dramatic

renderings described in the novel.

Dancing

Ophelia refers to several dances as she relates her story.

Suggest students interested in dance conduct research on

the Morris dance, the bransle, and the pavane, and then

perform them for the rest of the class.

Readers Theater

Encourage students to work in groups of four to prepare

readers theater scripts and performances for the rest of the

class. To do this, they will need to select scenes that are

particularly engaging because they are highly emotional,

intensely dramatic, or notably amusing. Have them perform

them in chronological order for their classmates.

Cross-Disciplinary Considerations

Art

Portraits of the Characters

Klein provides vivid descriptions of almost all the characters

in Ophelia. Using her descriptions, create a portrait gallery

for display within the classroom. Attach the passage(s)

from the novel that inspired each image.

Social Studies

Seventeenth-Century Sensibilities

Ophelia takes place during the early seventeenth century

and incorporates thinking prevalent to the time concerning

a variety of topics such as bodily humors, the wheel of

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fortune, puritan morals and behaviors, and religious

beliefs. As questions about these concepts arise during

reading and discussion of the novel, suggest students

conduct research on them and report their findings to the class.

Life in a Covent

Ophelia’s descriptions of St. Emilion’s provide insights

into life in a religious order during the early 1600s.

Interested students may want to piece together reasons for

becoming nuns, the daily routine, the religious hierarchy

involved, the importance of patrons, and the politics of

religious life. Charts may be helpful for explaining the

relationships between the sister, the prioress, the bishop,

and the convent’s chief patron. Another chart of the

hierarchy at court may help identify the similarities

between these medieval institutions.

Related ReadingsLiterature Mentioned in Ophelia

From the Queen’s Library

The Mirror of the Sinful Soul; Heptameron by Margaret, the

Queen of Navarre in France

The Art of Love; Metamorphoses by Ovid

Book of the Courtier by Castiglione

Love sonnets that are said to be the latest fashion in England

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From the Convent Library

The Legend of Good Women; Troius and Criseyde by Chaucer

The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius the Roman

From Hamlet

Anatomy by Vesalius

Other Literary Characters Whose Lives Are Imagined in

Their Own Books

Young Adult Recommendations:

Beast by Donna Jo Napoli

Breath by Donna Jo Napoli

Bound by Donna Jo Napoli

Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by

Robin McKinley

Witch Child by Celia Rees

Ariel by Grace Tiffany

The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood

Ophelia Speaks by Sara Shandler

Adult Titles of Interest:

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

My Father Had a Daughter by Grace Tiffany

Wise Women/Healers in Literature

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowery (young adult)

The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman (middle grade)

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Interview with Lisa Klein

When reading Ophelia, it is clear that you, as the book’s

author, have a deep understanding of Shakespeare’s plays

and the Elizabethan world. How did you come by this

expertise?

I wrote my doctoral dissertation and my first book on

Elizabethan poetry (Sir Philip Sidney and the sonnet craze) and

taught Renaissance literature to college students for several years.

So while I wasn’t trained as a Shakespearean scholar, Shakespeare

goes with the territory. I’ve taught most of his plays, Hamlet more

times than I can count. Then I became interested in the lives and

works of Renaissance women and wrote articles about the

needleworks of Queen Elizabeth and not-so-famous women of

the period. I read (and taught) women’s journals, letters, and

poetry. I studied so-called “nonliterary” works such as conduct

books, religious tracts, and satirical works about women. So

while Shakespeare’s works are a wonderful window into the

Renaissance, there are many other sources for understanding how

sixteenth century people experienced their world.

Why did you choose Ophelia as the character from

Shakespeare whose story you wanted to tell?

Whenever I taught Hamlet I found that students shared my

disappointment that Shakespeare’s Ophelia is such a passive

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character. To be fair, he was writing a revenge tragedy, a popular

genre at the time, not a love tragedy like Romeo and Juliet. Still,

I think he missed an opportunity to deepen Hamlet’s conflict

by enhancing his relationship to Ophelia. The film versions of the

play, which many readers have seen, focus on her naiveté and

madness. Well, if Ophelia was so dim, what on earth made

Hamlet fall in love with her? How would the play have been

different if she had not drowned? If Ophelia could tell her own

story, how would it differ from Shakespeare’s version? These

were the kinds of questions that started me thinking. They just

wouldn’t let go, so I began writing.

How did you decide to tell Ophelia’s story in novel rather

than play format (as Tom Stoppard did in Rosencrantz and

Guildenstern Are Dead?)

It never occurred to me to write a play. Maybe I didn’t want to

take on Shakespeare (or Stoppard, for that matter) on their own

turf. I know that I doubted my ability to write good dialog, and

a play is all dialog. I enjoyed and admired Rosencrantz and

Guildenstern Are Dead, and like Stoppard, I wanted to write

“between the lines” of Hamlet, weaving Ophelia’s story into the

existing time frame of Hamlet. The novel format seemed the

natural choice, because I find it easier to become deeply engaged

in reading a novel than in reading a play.

Are there other Shakespearean characters whose story

you would like to tell?

I’ve been thinking about that. Ophelia was such an obvious

choice. So far no other character has grabbed me, like the Ancient

Mariner grabbed Coleridge’s narrator, and said “Hear my tale.”

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But I am rereading some of the plays that interest me most.

Right now I’m intrigued by Twelfth Night because I know a

certain group of high school students who are acting out its

complicated love relationships unawares! Who knows, I might

combine characters or plots from more than one play and build

my own Shakespeare-inspired novel. Or I might visit a different

literary period altogether.

What joys and challenges did writing Ophelia bring?

As I said, writing dialog was a challenge for me. But as my sense

of the characters developed, their words came more naturally.

Imitating Elizabethan language without falling into stilted syntax

and flowery diction was also tricky. I kept rewriting to make the

language plainer, while keeping it literary. I love doing the

research for historical novels. I did lengthy word searches in my

gigantic Oxford English Dictionary, in order to use words that were

current in Shakespeare’s time. I read sixteenth century herbals

and books about convent life. The writing process itself was

exciting. When I would get stuck on a scene or write myself into

a corner, I would go for a walk to clear my head, and sometimes

the perfect piece of dialog or a solution to a problem would pop

into my head, and I would virtually run home to get it down.

Sometimes it would take my story in an unexpected direction,

and everything else would have to adjust.

This is your first novel. Would you like to share anything

about the process of getting it published?

I shared a very early draft of Ophelia with my reading group and

my dad, and the response I got encouraged me to keep working

at it. About a year later I felt it was finished, and another friend

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advised me to get an agent. I researched literary agents, wrote

about thirty letters, and stacked up as many rejections. Finally

an agent I had handpicked, full of hope, took an interest. She

recommended changing an important plot element, and after I

did so, she agreed to represent the manuscript. In just over a

month she had offers from two publishers. Of course, I was

stunned, then elated. I had expected it to take several months to

get a reply. Even after Ophelia was accepted, it underwent

several more revisions. Like I used to tell my students: No piece

of writing is ever perfect. It can always be improved. But I feel

tremendously lucky that Ophelia found a home so quickly,

guided by a good agent and a dedicated editor.

What would you like your readers to come away with

after reading Ophelia?

I would tell my readers this: enjoy Ophelia. Then go and reread

Hamlet with a fresh eye, or read it for the first time without being

intimidated by Shakespeare. Read more of Shakespeare’s works.

His plays belong to all of us, and we don’t want to miss what they

have to say about the human condition that we all share.

How do you see the play Hamlet differently after writing

this novel?

In the course of writing Ophelia, I studied the play so intently

I noticed details I had missed in all my prior readings. For one

thing, I realized how compressed the action is and how indefinite

the passage of time, as I tried to fit my story into the framework

of Hamlet. I admire the play tremendously. There is no other work

of literature that can stand up to all the literary criticism, movies,

books, poetry, and plays that have been created in response to it.

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What do you think Shakespeare would think of your

interpretation of his play and characters?

That question occurred to me frequently while I was writing.

I would like to think that Shakespeare would approve of my

Ophelia. After all, he freely adapted his sources when he wrote

plays. And what Ophelia does is not out of the realm of possibility

for an intelligent and resourceful young woman of Shakespeare’s

day. I would like to hear him say “ ‘Tis a fine piece of work, a

tragi-comedy; would that I had thought of it myself!"

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ophelia teaching guide

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