John Updike

Gertrude and Claudius: a Novel John Updike 1st, 1st Printing Thus edition

Gertrude and Claudius are the ?villains? of Hamlet: he the killer of Hamlet?s father and usurper of the Danish throne; she his lusty consort, who marries Claudius before her late husband?s body is cold. But in this imaginative ?prequel? to the play, John Updike makes a case for the royal couple that Shakespeare only hinted at. Gertrude and Claudius are seen afresh against a background of fond intentions and family dysfunction, on a stage darkened by the ominous shadow of a sullen, erratic, disaffected prince. ?I hoped to keep the texture light,? Updike said of this novel, ?to move from the mists of Scandinavian legend into the daylight atmosphere of the Globe. I sought to narrate the romance that preceded the tragedy.?