The Tragedy of Prince Hamlet and the Philosopher's Stone, or, A Will Most Incorrect to Heaven by William Shakespeare
Book Details
Author(s)Aaron Weiner
PublisherAaron Weiner
ISBN / ASINB0061Z9KWM
ISBN-13978B0061Z9KW6
Sales Rank445,217
MarketplaceUnited States 🇺🇸
Description
ACT I
PROLOGUE
KING CLAUDIUS
"Grieve not for the dead.
It shows a will most incorrect to heaven."
What may we make of him who birthed these lines,
and, in his mad stinking London,
committed them to paper and the voice of me, his villain?
Was our Shakespeare a Will most incorrect to heaven?
Had he the liberty, what Hamlet had he writ?
A true opponent, not just to me, but to the natural ordering
of the spheres and of the mind?
A youth, perhaps, who though as cautious as could be in action,
were o'er-rash in fantasy.
Exit CLAUDIUS.
The Tragedy of Prince Hamlet and the Philosopher's Stone, or, A Will Most Incorrect to Heaven by William Shakespeare is a work of Hamlet fan fiction. The play is a rewrite of Hamlet that preserves much of the original style, language, and plot, while injecting references to modern culture, epistemology, and ethics. It's perhaps what Shakespeare would have written, had he been simultaneously trying to appeal to audiences of both his time and our own. The Philosopher's Stone, for example, would be familiar to subjects of either Queen Elizabeth.
The play's formatting is modeled after the way most of us encounter written Shakespeare: the spelling is updated and standardized, the stage directions are minimal and mostly of the sort that can be inferred from the dialogue, and the language is Elizabethan English from circa 1599; any anachronism is unintentional, aside from a certain wry punctuation mark and other allusions to future art. It's written to be performed as well as read. The only major change to the structure is the play's length: while unabridged productions of Hamlet can run up to five hours, the more concise Tragedy of Prince Hamlet and the Philosopher's Stone, or, A Will Most Incorrect to Heaven by William Shakespeare clocks in at well under two.
PROLOGUE
KING CLAUDIUS
"Grieve not for the dead.
It shows a will most incorrect to heaven."
What may we make of him who birthed these lines,
and, in his mad stinking London,
committed them to paper and the voice of me, his villain?
Was our Shakespeare a Will most incorrect to heaven?
Had he the liberty, what Hamlet had he writ?
A true opponent, not just to me, but to the natural ordering
of the spheres and of the mind?
A youth, perhaps, who though as cautious as could be in action,
were o'er-rash in fantasy.
Exit CLAUDIUS.
The Tragedy of Prince Hamlet and the Philosopher's Stone, or, A Will Most Incorrect to Heaven by William Shakespeare is a work of Hamlet fan fiction. The play is a rewrite of Hamlet that preserves much of the original style, language, and plot, while injecting references to modern culture, epistemology, and ethics. It's perhaps what Shakespeare would have written, had he been simultaneously trying to appeal to audiences of both his time and our own. The Philosopher's Stone, for example, would be familiar to subjects of either Queen Elizabeth.
The play's formatting is modeled after the way most of us encounter written Shakespeare: the spelling is updated and standardized, the stage directions are minimal and mostly of the sort that can be inferred from the dialogue, and the language is Elizabethan English from circa 1599; any anachronism is unintentional, aside from a certain wry punctuation mark and other allusions to future art. It's written to be performed as well as read. The only major change to the structure is the play's length: while unabridged productions of Hamlet can run up to five hours, the more concise Tragedy of Prince Hamlet and the Philosopher's Stone, or, A Will Most Incorrect to Heaven by William Shakespeare clocks in at well under two.
