Hag-Seed

St Just Monday Morning Reading Group 24th February 2025.

Hag-seed. Margaret Atwood.

Most of the reading group said they really loved this book, saying how clever it was, ‘a triumph of ingenuity’, and ‘a sympathetic rewriting of The Tempest in the most novel of settings’. We liked the prisoners’ discussions about the staging of the play and its casting. The inmates becoming actors and their criminality being forgotten was appreciated, as was Felix’s way of carrying out his role as teacher. We thought the book was very true to the spirit of the play, being often somewhat surreal.

One or two readers enjoyed it slightly less, finding the beginning too slow and possibly also the end section where the actors give their opinions on how the performance went. Felix’s dialogue with his dead daughter Miranda was a problematic concept, whose purpose was not very clear to the reader, and this element of the book was thought perhaps to be over-emphasised.

We thought it was a very ‘visual’ book, and in the right hands would make a very convincing film. The idea of the inmates being banned from using any swear-words that were not Shakespearean ones went across very well.

We saw also that the inmates benefited enormously from producing a play whilst in prison, and this led to a discussion of real-life situations including the Koestler Awards for arts in criminal justice, which include encouragement for visual arts, design, writing and music. We ended with a general discussion of prisons and their problems.

This is a highly imaginative and beautifully written take on the original 'Tempest'. Betrayal and revenge are still the main themes within the book however the creative turn of setting the story within Felix (Prospero) being a wronged artistic director of a Canadian theatre festival stopped in his tracks from making his version of The Tempest. Thus, he plans his retribution by putting on 'his' Tempest by teaching acting in a correctional facility.

Atwood creates a play within a novel set on a play all mixed together with dry humour and gusto – making this a thrilling read.

I haven’t read The Tempest since my GCSEs and Hag-Seed gave reminded me of all the main plot points and characters in the original play but did it in a fresh way that gave me a deeper understanding of the characters.

Two elements that I particularly enjoyed were the prisoners/actors stating what they think would happen to their specific characters after the play and the interactions between the prisoners (they are only allowed to curse using Shakespearean insults which is pure genius).

I would highly recommend this fresh retelling.