In-transit Shakespeare
Queen Gertrude in Prose Adaptations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34019/1982-0836.2025.v29.49362Keywords:
Hamlet, Adaptation Studies, Queen Gertrude, ReceptionAbstract
The volume of adaptations of Hamlet (1600-01), by William Shakespeare (1564-1616), to the most diverse cultural formats is incalculable. In the field of fictional prose, the tragedy has been the object of study by adapters since the 19th century. This article aims to analyze the (re)construction of the identity of the character of Queen Gertrude in three narrative adaptations of Hamlet — Gertrude of Denmark: An Interpretative Romance (1924) by Lillie Buffum Chace Wyman; the short story “Gertrude Talks Back” (2007 [1992]) by Margaret Atwood; and Gertrude and Claudius (2001) by John Updike. To accomplish that, this study draws on the concept of adaptation, as understood by Linda Hutcheon (2013) and Julie Sanders (2006), as well as considers the way Queen Gertrude’s image has been (re)created (Lefevere, 2007 [1992]) in these fictional narratives, understanding the rewritings as part of a broader process of reception (Willis, 2017; 2021) of the Shakespearian play in the 20th and 21st centuries.
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