“It comes over him in a wave: He’s been wrong about his Tempest, wrong for twelve years.”

Anyone can retell as classic story, but changing a play by Shakespeare while remaining true to the themes and lessons of the original requires skill. Changes were needed, Margaret Atwood told a standing-room-only crowd in Madison, Wisconsin this week, to  make Miranda (the daughter who grows up on a deserted island) a believable character. Atwood said her biggest challenge was preserving the important relationship between the father and daughter after changing the setting that brought them close together. Atwood did this as only Atwood could do it, adding grace and depth — and a little magic —  to this unforgettable father-daughter relationship.

Atwood, Margaret. Hag-Seed. Hogarth, 2016, p. 291.

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