"Enter the Body" by Joy McCullough takes place in the room beneath a stage's trapdoor, where Shakespeare's dead teenage girls discuss their lives and experiences. Together, they have the chance to take control of their own stories and rewrite their fates.
Told in verse, this was a great feminist retelling of Shakespeare, starring Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, Ophelia from Hamlet, Cordelia from King Lear, and Lavinia from Titus Andronicus. It's no secret that female characters have historically been done a disservice, with each of these women being killed to satisfy a narrative. Each girl gets a chance to share her side of the story, first telling it through, then changing details and elements to show how they would have liked things to unfold. While their stories don't always end in happiness, they do have more agency and justice for each of our heroines.
Told in verse, this was a great feminist retelling of Shakespeare, starring Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, Ophelia from Hamlet, Cordelia from King Lear, and Lavinia from Titus Andronicus. It's no secret that female characters have historically been done a disservice, with each of these women being killed to satisfy a narrative. Each girl gets a chance to share her side of the story, first telling it through, then changing details and elements to show how they would have liked things to unfold. While their stories don't always end in happiness, they do have more agency and justice for each of our heroines.