Tsundoku reviewed What You Will: A Queer-er Shakespeare by Jess Mahler
While I confess Shakespeare is difficult for me, this is still a delightful take on a Play I very much want to see
4.5 stars
Content warning Spoilers for the Premise of this retelling; Spoilers for Twelfth Night; CW: Grief, Ableism / Forced Instiltutionalization
Okay, so as a member of Jess Mahler's Street team, I received a free copy of this to review, but it's probably worth noting, I was receiving this serialized as well, so it is Not my first time reading it.
Which is good, because I haven't had any Shakespeare since High School over a decade ago, and I still find him difficult to parse. Most of the dialogue is taken directly from the play, (except for the changing of some lines in regards to the changing of the ending). I must say: Reading this a second time made it a lot easier, but still challenging. For the time being, (as of writing this) I am giving this a 4.5, but I may raise it up later, especially if I can better grasp the the play. I do plan on watching it if I can find a recorded version. It may also get an increased score if it turns out a month from now I can't get this out of my head.
Okay, so in the original play Viola disguises herself as a man named Cesario, I believe as an aid for being an unmarried woman shipwrecked in a foreign land.
The difference being, in Jess Mahler's version, Cesario decides he likes being Cesario, and promises to himself that "the dead will walk before I answer to Viola again" (probably not the line exactly, unfortunately I can't consult the ARC while I write this).
So yes, Cesario is a Trans Man in this telling, so certain end lines have to change, and that's all I'm saying about that aspect. There's a note in the back regarding that in my E-ARC, and I assume the final copy will include a note too.
I'm going to touch on the Malvolio subplot. The Fool regrets his part in the Malvolio subplot, and the whole thing is explicitly shown to be a bad idea. Like yes, trying to drive someone insane, get them declared insane and locked away, seemingly as a prank or revenge for slights seems OVERKILL to me. but maybe that's because I've been institutionalized before, and can assure you: it sucks!
Let's talk about the narration.
The Fool, who narrates this tale, (which I think that's a wonderful choice that I'm going to assume was Mahler's decision at least until I see or read the original play) does a great job with pronouns and names Like Viola / Cesario's pronouns match what She / He feels at that moment (using slashes for clarity, Sorry Cesario I'm not deadnaming you for petty reasons). Like if I were writing a narrative where I wanted a character to transition during it, I think this is the way I'd prefer to go about it. This (and the original play) are worth studying.
Buy it, but remember to take notes!