The other night I watched Hamnet on Netflix, which sent me back to thinking about Maggie O'Farrell's novel; it is one of my favorite books of the past few years. While Hamnet isn't exactly a retelling of Hamlet, it feels connected to it in fascinating ways. Rather than reimagining Shakespeare's play, it imagines the grief that may have inspired it, making Shakespeare himself seem less like an untouchable literary giant and more like a husband, a father, and a person trying to make sense of loss.
It made me wonder why we're so drawn to retellings, or perhaps more accurately, to books that revisit familiar stories from a new angle. Why do we keep retelling stories?
Retellings have become almost a genre of their own. We see Greek myths told from the perspective of overlooked women (Circe and A Thousand Ships), fairy tales with unexpected heroes (Spindle's End), Jane Austen novels transplanted into modern settings (Bridget Jones's Diary), and Shakespeare plays viewed through entirely different eyes. David Copperfield has been relocated from Victorian England to Appalachia and is now a character talking about the opioid epidemic. I thought Lady Tremaine was an exceptionally well-crafted reimagining that doesn’t simply flip the script on Cinderella’s “wicked stepmother,” but interrogates how such a woman might have come to be called wicked in the first place. Many of these begin with the same impulse: What if we looked at this story differently? What if we gave another character the microphone? What happened before, or after, the version everyone knows?
Perhaps familiar stories give us a place to stand while we explore something new. We already know where the road goes, so we can pay closer attention to the scenery along the way. Or maybe every generation simply wants to ask its own questions of the stories it inherits.
Some retellings stay very close to their source material, while others barely resemble the original by the time they're finished. At what point does a retelling become an entirely new work? Is it enough to borrow a few characters or themes, or does the original need to remain recognizable? Does it matter whether you've read the source material at all?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
What retelling changed the way you saw the original story? Think about myths, fairy tales, Shakespeare, classics, or even fanfiction-inspired retellings.
Why do you think we're so drawn to revisiting old stories through modern lenses?
When does a retelling become its own story? How much of the original needs to remain recognizable?
Have you ever read a retelling before reading the original? Did it change your experience?
Are there stories you think deserve more retellings, or stories that should simply be left alone?
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I confess that this is not something I've thought about! (And, I have not read any of the books you mention - Circe, Lady Tremaine, etc.). We did watch Hamnet the other week and I thought it was very well done. An intense movie, but good (certainly not the "rom-com" that Fletch thought it would be - LOL).
ReplyDeleteGreat questions, Bonny! I have not read much Shakespeare at all so I did not have much background to compare to with Hamnet/Hamlet. I think my favorite retelling was Jo Nesbø's retelling of Macbeth in Killing Moon. The story Nesbø told made me want to read Macbeth to see the comparisons... they were good and I am appreciative to Nesbø for inspiring me to read Macbeth. But really, I think most retellings have a different idea... to inspire a person to pick up a book. Maybe a person thinks they are not a Shakespeare reader... or a classic literature reader... but perhaps the current day author has a bit of a following (certainly Nesbø and O'Farrell have extensive and devoted followers) and they place in the hands of a reader a book that inspires them to pick up another author's works. And I don't think that is ever a bad thing!
ReplyDeleteHmm, this is an interesting topic, Bonny. I have tended to avoid retellings for the most part if I have read the original. I think I enjoy the surprise of a new-to-me story in my reading. Having said that, I do realize there are not that many new stories in the world. But there are new-to-me stories. Perhaps I should reconsider my position. I know they are quite popular.
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed some re-tellings more than others. Most of the re-tellings I've read are from Greek myths, Shakespeare, or certain classics. I've enjoyed some, but not others. I don't really know what turns me off from some of them. I've also avoided reading re-tellings of fairy tales and I'm not sure why that is. I need to give this more thought! Interesting question, Bonny!
ReplyDeleteI tend to like fairy tale retellings better, but I think that is because I'm generally more familiar with the originals. I get lost in Greek myths, but that is because I don't know the originals very well. I should read the originals!
DeleteI generally enjoy retellings, but I think the ones I enjoy the most are those that tell what was a familiar story but tell it from the point of view of someone who didn't seem particularly central in the original. I guess what I enjoy about that so much is that it's a reminder that everyone's story is biased in some way, so getting multiple perspectives is a way to reexamine one's beliefs about a story. I love that in recent years we gotten so many retellings from women's points of view; so many of the "classics" either omitted or discounted the role of women that we really were getting a very one-sided picture.
ReplyDeleteAnother (excellent) re-telling is James by Percival Everett. I think fairy tales and Shakespeare are especially ripe for retelling because they really do deal with big themes. There aren't very many Jane Austen retellings I've liked, partly because while it's easy to hit the romance, the wit is another thing altogether. Though some of the movies have been fun. We used to (and I hope will again) go to Ashland, OR to the Oregon Shakespeare festival. Quite often their Shakespeare plays are set in much different times and places than the original (Macbeth in the old west, anyone?). They're usually quite good. And the novel settings do open the plays up in interesting ways. Still, lately I've chosen to watch newer plays or an August Wilson play (they often do one of the Pittsburgh Cycle). I may have just used your Read with Us question to talk myself into a trip to Ashland later this summer or in the fall.
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