Enclosed in a room beneath a stage by a trapdoor, teenage girls from Shakespeare’s works tell their stories in their own words.
ENTER THE BODY uses an interesting format which caught my attention and was what initially made me pick up the book. Narration alternates between the characters with each girl having a different style of poetry used to highlight her story. Dialogue between the characters is written as a play. I really enjoyed the girls telling their stories and though it’s been a very long time since I’ve read Shakespeare, I followed along quite well. Where the book began to fall apart for me was with the dialogue. Much of it consisted of bickering between characters which became rather annoying and I found myself rushing to get past it as it detracted from my overall enjoyment. Nonetheless, I’m glad that I read ENTER THE BODY. It gives an opportunity to think about Shakespeare’s female characters in a different way and also consider the consequences of one’s voice being stifled.
ENTER THE BODY uses an interesting format which caught my attention and was what initially made me pick up the book. Narration alternates between the characters with each girl having a different style of poetry used to highlight her story. Dialogue between the characters is written as a play. I really enjoyed the girls telling their stories and though it’s been a very long time since I’ve read Shakespeare, I followed along quite well. Where the book began to fall apart for me was with the dialogue. Much of it consisted of bickering between characters which became rather annoying and I found myself rushing to get past it as it detracted from my overall enjoyment. Nonetheless, I’m glad that I read ENTER THE BODY. It gives an opportunity to think about Shakespeare’s female characters in a different way and also consider the consequences of one’s voice being stifled.