87 pages 2 hours read

Margaret Atwood

Hag-Seed: William Shakespeare's The Tempest Retold

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2016

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Introduction

Hag-Seed

  • Genre: Fiction; contemporary retelling
  • Originally Published: 2016
  • Reading Level/Interest: Grades 9-12; college/adult
  • Structure/Length: 47 chapters with Prologue and Epilogue; approx. 320 pages; approx. 8 hours, 11 minutes on audio
  • Protagonist and Central Conflict: In this modern retelling and reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a theatrical director named Felix lives an isolated existence after losing his job and family; he nurses bitterness toward his replacement at his former theater, a man named Tony. Eventually Felix finds work teaching and directing at a local correctional institute, where he coaches the inmates to perform works of Shakespeare. When Felix discovers that Tony will be visiting the prison, he concocts a plan for vengeance to be played out during a performance of The Tempest.
  • Potential Sensitivity Issues: Loss of family members; use of drugs; threats of violence

Margaret Atwood, Author

  • Bio: Born in 1939; a native of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; graduate of Victoria College and Harvard University; recipient of the Franz Kafka International Literary Award, the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award, and The Booker Prize, among other awards   
  • Other Works: “Siren Song” (1974); The Handmaid’s Tale (1985); The Blind Assassin (2002); “Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet” (2009)
  • Awards: Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction (longlisted; 2017)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

Related Titles

By Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Alias Grace

Margaret Atwood

Alias Grace

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Backdrop Addresses Cowboy

Margaret Atwood

Backdrop Addresses Cowboy

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Cat's Eye

Margaret Atwood

Cat's Eye

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Death By Landscape

Margaret Atwood

Death By Landscape

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Happy Endings

Margaret Atwood

Happy Endings

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing

Margaret Atwood

Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Lady Oracle

Margaret Atwood

Lady Oracle

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Life Before Man

Margaret Atwood

Life Before Man

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

MaddAddam

Margaret Atwood

MaddAddam

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Rape Fantasies

Margaret Atwood

Rape Fantasies

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Stone Mattress

Margaret Atwood

Stone Mattress

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Surfacing

Margaret Atwood

Surfacing

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Circle Game

Margaret Atwood

The Circle Game

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Edible Woman

Margaret Atwood

The Edible Woman

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Heart Goes Last

Margaret Atwood

The Heart Goes Last

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Landlady

Margaret Atwood

The Landlady

Margaret Atwood