I really enjoyed reading this little story! *thumbs up*

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Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it :)

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First Shakespeare!fic I've read that is actually good. Haunting, and just a bit despairing around the edges. Love love love it ♥

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I have several other Hamlet pieces on this journal, too - it's the one play that keeps drawing me back for more. I think I'd do anything to see a good production (as evidenced by how much I recently shelled out to procure tickets one of the ones in London next year)...

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Chilling. I always pitied Ophelia, but was kind of creeped out by her too. This ficlet (is that a word?) captures that perfectly. I can't figure wether I want to hug her or run as fast as I can in the opposite direction.

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This ficlet (is that a word?) captures that perfectly.

It is a word, yes! (Or at least a common slang term.) And I'm here to echo this sentiment: I'm a big Shakespeare fan, and this is amazing.

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Thank you; I'm pleased you liked it so much! Yes, ficlet is a word, insofar as fandom has invented it *g*

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Pity and fear, yeah - that's a good summation of the emotions she tends to evoke in the viewer. I'm glad you liked this; thanks!

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Oh. That's beautiful, and makes me feel so much for Ophelia (always a fascinating character). The poetry of your style in this suits Hamlet so well.

Extra points for actual Danish spelling! ♥

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I can't wait to go back to Denmark. Of all the places I visited in Scandinavia, I think it made the deepest impact on me. Maybe it's partly due to my attachment of this play, but there was something just out-and-out beautiful about all the parts of the country I saw.

Thank you <3

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Wow--I like this angle--I've actually never seen that interpretation done before. Hm...was Horatio present during Ophelia's madness scene?

Great piece, anyway--I've always had trouble sympathizing with Ophelia...I mean, I've always pitied her very much--she's such a sweet, earnest child in my mind! Of all the characters, she really seems to get the absolute worst of it. --I liked her maturity here--relative maturity--and her strength:

"Flee to the cellars and I will find you; weep on the rooftops and I'll hound your steps, dogged, one more dead darling in your disbelieving sight."

Powerful. Excellent job.

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He's present up until she exits, and when she re-enters in that scene, some directors have him rush back onstage after her (although he has no further lines, obviously). He seems to have been designated to keep an eye on her at this point, you know?

Thank you very much; so glad that this worked for you!

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Wow, I wasn't certain what to expect, but I didn't expect this at all. There's a gorgeous haunted quality to the writing that isn't obvious, but is beautifully transparent, allowing us to experience Ophelia's madness with her.

Nicely done.

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Thank you! Truth be told, it's been a while since I've revisited this show for the purpose of writing fic (this journal is just littered with the stuff over time), so I was afraid I'd find myself rusty, but I'm actually kind of pleased with this.

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In childhood, I hid under piles of blankets six inches thick, endeavoring to escape both the sound and the shakes that wormed their separate ways into my ears and my bones.

My favorite part, perhaps because I can see myself in it.
Wonderful work.

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I hid under the blankets, too, if I didn't feel right about something. Mom was always afraid I'd suffocate myself.

Thank you :)

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Ooooooh. Haunting.

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Thank you!

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You captured very well the wild imagination and determination of madness. It reads like poetry and was very easy on the eyes.

Even Shakespeare gets fanfiction. I love it! xD

For I am more than half sick of shadows, you called so much into my mind with that line and the rest of this story had Emilie Autumn's "Shalott" running in the background. I think that that is a lovely little piece of sorrow that suits Ophelia's character very much too, so again: good on you for picking out such perfect imagery.

I love your writing.

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I HEARD U LEIK EMILIE AUTUMN.

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I DO INDEED LIEK HER OMG SHE ROCKS.

(Oh, and yes: craked_shield does indeed. Sorry, my wires got crossed there for a second...)

Edited at 2008-09-15 09:48 am (UTC)

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WHATEVER IT'S OK THERE IS ENOUGH AWESOME IN HER TO GO AROUND.

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OMFG EMILIE AUTUMN IS LEIK DELISHUS YUMMEH CAKE.

irisbluefic LEIKS HER TOO.

she's so awesome x9

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Yes - although around here, it's exclusively Hamlet that gets fanfiction. This is...well, the second story I've done for this play, and then there are a ton of drabbles over time.

Thank you, dear <3

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damn you and all of your excellent writing! I want to read it all! <3 *and is working on that too!*

I can see why it would be Hamlet though. It's an excellent play and there are just enough gaps in time and action in it that you can fill those spaces with some very interesting ideas. :3 I love fanservice like that. <333

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And heaven knows I don't know how to back out of service :-p

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Oh, that's cruel. It's always so hard to tell how observant mad Ophelia is supposed to be. (Pre-madness...well, you know my views on that. ;)

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I'm fully convinced she's not totally gone. Her dialogue suggests flashes of lucidity; therefore, I think her madness, like Hamlet's madness, is more than meets the eye...

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Very haunting indeed. The imagery in this alone is simply gorgeous, and I love the subtle hints to the two boys without it actually being said.

Ophelia is a character left in the shadows of Hamlet/Horatio, forgotten and not; unwilling to admit, and not. It always was just time before she (and they) were found, and found out.

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I feel incredibly bad for all of them, in the end - bottom line. When you go around seeing things and knowing too much, you are not destined for a happy ending. Period *sigh*

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Um, I'm sorry, did you just reference "The Lady of Shallot" in a Hamlet fic?

A-MAAAAY-ZING!

I'll hound your steps, dogged, one more dead darling in your disbelieving sight.

Alliteration. That's really, really nice.

I love the subtle rivalry you've given them, and the way that that rivalry draws them close once Hamlet loses his marbles.

I wanted to quote more, but alas, I would end up quoting the whole thing. So, I'll leave with this.

Still, I will take this chance to learn the things that I have for so long yearned to know: how cold the drafts in the halls after dark, how deep the cellars delve through time immemorial, how harsh the scrape of wood and stone beneath my toes.

The drafts in the halls are a freezing, shrieking horror. In childhood, I hid under piles of blankets six inches thick, endeavoring to escape both the sound and the shakes that wormed their separate ways into my ears and my bones. Now, they billow this shift about my bare form and mock my wretched laughter. In later years, in times very recent, I buried my head beneath a pile of pillows and begged the wailing specters to drown out the sound and the source of my grief.

Oh shit. That is the whole thing.

OH WELL I TRIED OKAY?

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Er, yes. I did slip in a reference to Tennyson. Mea culpa! ;)

I'm glad you enjoyed this, dear <3 Thank you!

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See why that song was my BGM for this short little tale?

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TOTES.

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Ooh. Gorgeous and perfect. Wow.

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So glad you liked it - thank you! <3

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This is chilling & beautiful. I missed your stories for fandoms I know so much I have almost caved in and downloaded Batman (but have not watched it yet). So, yay for Hamletfic! Thank you for sharing!

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Oh, have fun watching it for the first time! It's stunning.

Thank you so much, dear :)

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omfg your icon is hilarious xD

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Mmm...well done...

There's a Canadian tv show called "Slings and Arrows" that you might like, about a theater company. The climax of the first season is the production of Hamlet and it's very well done.

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I adore Slings & Arrows, too. I have it all, and I've seen it all. Repeatedly *G*

Thank you very much!

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Spiffy. ^_^

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Ooh--wow!

I SO want to move into Elsinore!

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It's a beautiful castle, and the medieval ruins below the present structure can be seen at one point through a sort of plexiglass window they've set into an excavated part of the stone floor. It's mesmerizing.

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I'll definitely have to go see it some day. I can't wait to make it to England for Stratford!

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Okay I'm late to the party, but this is very beautifully written. Have you, by chance, read Ophelia by Lisa Klein? Granted, it's technically a "young adult" novel, but from what you have written here, it seems like it might be up your alley. The first half was very good, the part the focuses primarily on her relationship with the other characters from the play, the second half is a bit contrived but it's worth the read.

Edited at 2009-05-25 03:31 am (UTC)

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Even in my late 20s, I'm still a big fan of well-written YA lit, so bring it on ;) It sounds fascinating. Maybe I'm a spoilsport for asking this, but how are the characterizations of Hamlet and Horatio? Or would that be giving too much away?

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Both of their characterizations are very well written - Horatio has a rather large roll in the book which is interesting. If you read it you'll have to tell me what you think of it. Talking about it so much makes me want to reread it.

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