In Atwood’s Hag-Seed, Prospero is a widower theater director named Felix, and his usurper is his erstwhile business partner, Tony. When a shipwreck strands Antonio and assorted other characters on Prospero’s island, Prospero uses his magic and his servants to create a magical play for the visitors, one that punishes the wicked and rewards the good, and restores Prospero to his dukedom. There, Prospero enslaves the spirit Ariel and the monster Caliban and forces them to do his bidding.
Briefly: Prospero is the duke of Milan, but instead of ruling he spends all his time studying magic, so his brother Antonio usurps him, sending Prospero and his daughter Miranda to a magical island. Hag-Seed sees a production of The Tempest going up at a prisonĪtwood helpfully includes a summary of The Tempest at the end of Hag-Seed, if you’ve forgotten your high school English class.
Still, Atwood’s thoughtfulness and playfulness keep Hag-Seed from ever getting boring. Most troublingly, its title suggests that it’s all about Caliban, but the novel fails to live up to that promise in any compelling way. That’s not to say that Hag-Seed is perfect.
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