Elsinore

Baczkiewicz, Sebastian

£20.00

How did Claudius become the man he is in Shakespeare’s Hamlet? What were the real reasons behind the murder of his brother? Was Gertrude in on the plan? How does he really feel about his nephew? These questions will all be answered in this drama spiced with ghosts, pirates, magic and political skulduggery. Claudius is one of the most interesting characters in the Shakespearean canon. In ‘Hamlet’ he is a murderer, and yet a more than capable ruler. More enigmatically, he either marries Gertrude because it gives him access to the throne or because he loves her desperately; he kills his brother either because he is ambitious and wants power, or because his brother is a drink-sodden meathead, or, simply, because he is in love with his brother’s wife. Exploring Claudius’ earlier career, this drama is an unravelling of this enigma.

Available on backorder

Publish Date: 03/05/2018
ISBN: 9781787530379 Tag:

Description

How did Claudius become the man he is in Shakespeare’s Hamlet? What were the real reasons behind the murder of his brother? How does he really feel about his nephew? These questions will be answered in this drama spiced with ghosts, pirates, magic and political skulduggery.

Set in an alternative Europe in the 1930s, Elsinore is a prequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This compelling new drama imagines the turbulence of the Danish court, in a world where Denmark is a powerful, militarised country with a small empire around the Baltic that it is fighting hard to maintain. There is more than a hint of totalitarianism in the air.

In this uneasy setting, Elsinore delves into the troubled, not to say murderous relationship between King Hamlet and his brother Claudius: one of the most interesting characters in the Shakespearean canon. Realism meets with moments of otherworldliness as the story unravels, taking in pirates and magic, rebellion and betrayal.

A dark, exciting drama that touches on the events and people in Shakespeare’s play, and brings us to the moment where Hamlet begins.

From the extraordinary imagination of Sebastian Baczkiewicz, writer of the successful Pilgrim series.

Duration: 3 hours approx.

Additional information

Weight 197 g
Dimensions 141 × 124 × 24 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages
Language

English

Edition

Unabridged edition

Dewey

822.92 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K