Thursday, May 8, 2025

Shakespeare References in Irish Girls About Town

Irish Girls About Town is a collection of short stories written by various female Irish authors. A few of the stories contain Shakespeare references, and interestingly all of those references are to Hamlet. The first reference appears in the story "Soulmates," written by Marian Keyes. Keyes writes, "The times people said, 'Don't you think Georgia and Joel are just too devoted? Methinks they do protest too much,' became fewer and fewer" (p. 14). That refers to Gertrude's line, regarding one of the players, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." The next two references appear in a story titled "Girls' Weekend," written by Marisa Mackle. Mackle writes, "So I know it might sound like I'm being a bit of a prick, but I'm just being cruel to be kind" (p. 329). Hamlet says to Gertrude, "I must be cruel only to be kind/This bad begins, and worse remains behind." A little later in "Girls' Weekend," another character says, "Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, do you know what I mean?" (p. 331). The final Shakespeare reference of the book comes in the story titled "The Union Man," written by Tina Reilly. Reilly writes, "Hoisted by my own petard" and then a few lines later, "Blown apart by my own petard" (p. 356). Hamlet, in that same scene with Queen Gertrude, says, "Let it work,/For 'tis the sport to have the enginer/Hoist with his own petard."

Irish Girls About Town was published in 2002.

No comments:

Post a Comment