Module A Textual Conversations: Band 6 Sample Essay

Introduction

Contemporary composers engage in one-way textual conversations to reanimate the concerns of the past, constructing intertextual resonances and dissonances that reflect evolving human values. Margaret Atwood's 2016 psychological prose fiction novel Hag-seed (HS) extends William Shakespeare's 1611 tragicomedy The Tempest (TT) through a nuanced recontextualisation of authority aimed at personal catharsis rather than dominion, effectively resonating with a 21st century readership. This reimagining of power is highlighted through the presentation of performance as a vehicle of escape over redemption, facilitated by the transformation of a spiritual dimension into technological stagecraft, and established through an emphasis on rehabilitation rather than dehumanisation. By reinterpreting Shakespeare's concerns, Atwood reignites voices of the past, compelling audiences to trace the evolution of authority from divine hierarchy to a humanist pursuit of psychological redemption.

Body paragraph 1: performance as escape versus redemption

Atwood's HS reframes authority as a means of escape rather than dominion, expressed through the contrasting use of performance between the texts, crafting an original take on Shakespeare's TT. Written during the Jacobean period, TT reflects audience concerns with divine justice and succession, with Shakespeare's use of meta-theatre enabling Prospero to orchestrate the masque, tempest and supernatural spectacles to manipulate and punish usurpers who prohibit his successive 'right' to dukedom. When Ariel condemns the nobles, asserting that, "You are three men of sin," the biblical allusion transforms theatre into moral spectacle, illustrating Prospero's manipulation of illusion as divine justice. The play form intensifies this effect, as Jacobean audiences experienced the illusions live, transforming Prospero's dominance into communal spectacle. Furthermore, his admission "These our actors... were all spirits," subtly breaks the fourth wall, foregrounding the illusory nature of his control and artificiality of his constructed world both within the play and for the audience. In contrast, Atwood depicts Felix's psychological recovery through performance, aligning with modern psychological understandings of trauma recovery. In an internal monologue, he reflects, "The smells were back. The sounds. The ghosts," layering sensory imagery to depict memory's theatrical return. The novel form privileges interiority, using narration and fragmented memory to render Felix's staging of The Tempest as a metaphorical exorcism, allowing him to externalise grief over his daughter Miranda's death and fall from success. His rejection of the Makeshiweg Festival, a symbol of artistic validation, highlights his authority over the play was purely for catharsis, opposing TT' conclusion with Prospero ending his vengeful performance when his Dukedom is reassumed. As such, Atwood's portrayal of performance offers a nuanced depiction of authority, shifting the meaning of power from outward control to inward resolution, subverting TT's vengeance-based arc.

Body paragraph 2: spiritual magic versus technological stagecraft

Furthermore, a key divergence between the texts lies in the transformation of supernatural elements into secular stagecraft, demystifying authority to appeal to a post-modern audience. In TT, Prospero's magic operates as an extension of divine order. The theatrical form enhances this by drawing on stagecraft - storms, masques, music - which immerse audiences in Prospero's quasi-divine command. Ariel, as a personified spirit of the air, represents Prospero's access to the metaphysical, elevating his power beyond mortal limits to achieve his conquest of vengeance. His relinquishment of this magic, conceding, "I'll drown my book," becomes a symbolic renunciation of control, aligning with Jacobean ideals of the restoration of cosmic order. In contrast, HS demystifies this power. Atwood replaces spirits with technological stagecraft, turning Ariel's magic into fog machines and projectors, serving as a secular reinterpretation of the supernatural in a world shaped by science and rationalism. Felix's 'magic' is grounded in realism and symbolic props, such as his obsession with costumes and lighting: "The smell of the pine trees. The costume rack. The prop box." These sensory items anchor power in tangible, human effort rather than divine intervention, privileging internal transformation. In doing so, Atwood mirrors a 21st-century readership less preoccupied with divine authority and more concerned with the psychological impact of art and performance. Thus, the spiritual aspects of Prospero's island gives way to a prison rehearsal space, showing how modern authority lies not in supernatural spectacle, but in nuanced emotional circumstances.

Body paragraph 3: subjugation versus rehabilitation

Both TT and HS explore the thematic concern of authority, yet diverge in their depiction of power as a means of subjugation versus rehabilitation. In TT, Prospero wields absolute control over the island's inhabitants, enforcing his will through manipulation and magical coercion. Caliban's admission, "you taught me language, and my profit on't is I know how to curse," spoken in blank verse rather than prose, employs irony to expose the violence of Prospero's civilising mission, emblematic of Jacobean colonial ideology amid the age of exploration. Likewise, Ariel, despite his supernatural prowess, remains emotionally tethered to Prospero's approval, asking, "Do you love me, master? No?" This vulnerable rhetoric exposes the master-servant hierarchy embedded in the island's power structures operating as a microcosm of imperial dominance, reflective of the rise of the transatlantic slave trade. Conversely, HS reimagines power through a rehabilitative lens, adhering to contemporary concerns with prison reform and restorative justice within Canada and globally. Felix's authority is not imposed but offered as guidance, with prisoners willingly participating in the production as a form of self-reflection. Red Coyote's assertion that, "Caliban should be first nations" reframes Caliban as a symbol of postcolonial resistance, allowing the inmates' reclamation of identity through characterisation, transforming Shakespeare's marginalised characters into figures of resistance. The prison, in turn, becomes a microcosm of institutional rehabilitation, with Felix fostering the inmates' growth. Ultimately, while Shakespeare presents the dehumanising nature of authoritarian control, Atwood envisions a model of authority grounded in empathy, where power enables personal growth rather than domination.

Conclusion

Ultimately, HS reimagines TT's exploration of authority by shifting power from domination to catharsis, secular illusion, and rehabilitation. In doing so, Atwood adapts Shakespeare's concerns through novel form for a contemporary audience, presenting authority not as coercion, but as a means of healing, guidance and self-discovery.