Gr 7 Up—Under a stage in a theater somewhere, some of Shakespeare's beloved and betrayed female characters
retell their own stories, taking agency over the things they wish could've happened differently. McCullough
reinvigorates the canon and provides new entry points for modern students with compelling and deeply thinking
characters.

I absolutely recommend the audio book for this, the multiple narrators really bring this to life, and like plays themselves, this is better experienced more than read. Even if you don't know the plays being mentioned, the stories are well supported enough that you can understand even without needing to know the Shakespearean lore.

If you are expecting this to be written like Shakespeare, well to be honest I'm really not sure why, but this is written in Joy McCullough's style with Shakespearean influence. She's an excellent author and that's why I picked this book up in the first place. I loved it, because it's about women taking control of their own stories, and brought up ideas and perspectives that had not occurred to me before about these old plays. An excellent listen/read, especially if you're a fan of writing in verse. ( )

I was not expecting this book to be drafted in the form of monologues or asides or siliques as if I was reading a play. Each of the key female characters from Shakespeare's plays, as well as some key historical figures, are represented in the Traproom scenes. I enjoy poetry and I do enjoy Shakespeare's Blank Verse; however, I was very taken aback and I feel that you should be prepared as well, because Enter the Body felt more in line with a Collection of Poetry rather than a traditional Shakespearian Play or a novel. There seems to be very little interaction between the characters listed so it looses the give and taken and playfulness that is expected from a play -- especially Shakespeare's plays.

If you like poetry, enjoy reading song lyrics, or enjoy musical theater librettos then Enter the Body will be a good fit for you because there is a lot of depth and presentation of how each of these characters feel when looking back at their story -- it's just in the formats previously mentioned. But maybe the second part of the book changes this up. ( )

Enter the Body focuses on Ophelia, Juliet, Cordelia, and Lavinia as they meet beneath the stage following their deaths in their respective plays. While Lavinia remains silenced, Ophelia, Juliet, and Cordelia take turns retelling Shakespeare's stories from their own perspective, then, in part three, rewriting their stories. The novel is written primarily in verse with sections of prose that serve to set the scenes and conversations between characters in script format.

Each of the three main characters who got a speaking part had a strong and distinct voice, both in the style of their poetry and the different ways they chose to take ownership of their story. I appreciated that changing the narrative for these girls did not always mean giving themselves a simple, happy ending. Their stories could do them more justice and give them what they needed while still remaining tragedies.

I enjoyed the poetry and the ambiance developed in the prose, however, I was less impressed with the script sections. The conversations between characters laid out the author's views and message in a very on-the-nose way and often felt more like a lesson for the audience than an organic conversation between the characters. I felt a little talked down by some of it, like the reader could not be expected to think about these ideas on their own. ( )

Juliet (Romeo & Juliet), Ophelia (Hamlet), and Cordelia (King Lear) share their stories, while Lavinia (Titus Andronicus) and others listen in "the trap room beneath all the stages, anywhere." Each character tells her story in free verse (or sometimes iambic, particularly Cordelia), and their conversations in the trap room are as in a play script. Each character tells her story as Shakespeare did, and then tells a revised version. Brilliantly imagined, deeply absorbing.

Quotes

Regret is the minotaur down here.
And the regret of mothers, it's the most terrifying monster of all. (107)

"What's favor, anyway? It is not love.
It's expectation, pressure on a child
who feels the weight of memories unknown." (Cordelia, 119)

But even knowing this, they're in suspense. For that's the power of the story. Even when they know how it will turn out, there's the spark of hope that this time might be different. (127)

"Excuse me, but I am extremely on the record as not wanting words put into my mouth." (Cordelia to Juliet, 156)

I think love is just hard, for everyone. It's hard if you wear it on your sleeve and it's hard if you bottle it up. (Ophelia to Juliet and Cordelia, 161)

"There's always another choice." (Cordelia, 169)

"Of course we have choices, but you make it sound like if we were just smarter, then the entire patriarchal systems built up around us wouldn't be able to hold us back. Sometimes you make all the right choices and shitty things still happen." (Juliet, 169)

"Dying isn't the problem. Being remembered only for our deaths and the moments they gave to the men onstage with us - that's what I'm over." (Ophelia, 212)

"Another voice will not drown out the first.
Sometimes they harmonize." (Cordelia re: France, 257)

I believe we can love things and also examine where they fall short. (Author's note) ( )