A Modern Day Feminist Hamlet: Hunting for Sparrows by Beatrice Gerard
Thelma knows her mother did not die of natural causes.
She knows this not by empirical evidence but by her own intuition in the form of a vision.
She knows that Claire Wise, CEO and founder of multi-billion dollar international corporation, Wise Woman Inc.
, was murdered.
Her untimely death was caused by the greedy, corrupt ambitions of her lover, Steve.
Steve had been her close friend and her jealous underling.
He had been there from the beginning, he got in on the ground floor, when she was growing her company.
Thelma wants justice for Claire Wise, powerful symbol of feminist power.
But she is unsure of the guilt of Steve, the one she would accuse.
In order to be certain she does her own empirical test of guilt.
She has his deeds played out in a film, and then she watches him while he watches the movie.
"The Play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.
" Thelma is an anagram of Hamlet, which in turn is an anagram of Amleth, the original historical character on which Hamlet is based.
Hunting for Sparrows is a brilliant twist on Hamlet; a feminist version of the timeless story of a man who could not make up his mind.
Like Hamlet, Thelma's sanity, not the guilt of the murderer becomes the central issue of the story.
Steve, the man who murdered Thelma's mother leads the charge on Thelma's sanity, claiming concern for her.
He wishes to have her committed.
He convinces the others that she has no grip on reality.
Of course, this is what he must do, because otherwise she might convince everyone of his guilt.
He calls into question her perceptions about other things.
He manipulates the other characters with his lies while Thelma convinces them of her madness with her cynical humor and inappropriate jokes at odd moments.
When someone sees a truth too frightening to accept, they are often accused of madness.
But denial is a form of madness too.
Denial helps one feel more comfortable, and as a result, may result in a more socially acceptable manner of behavior.
By the same token, willingness to see a painful truth may result in behaviors that are outside the socially acceptable norm.
Both conditions are a form of madness.
Thelma, like Hamlet, hesitates.
She has the opportunity to get revenge, or justice, however one defines it, but chooses not to take it.
She reasons herself out of it.
She can't decide and act on what she knows.
But she can't forget it either, and let it go, nor should she.
In other words, she can't make up her mind.
Her failure to act, her indecisiveness leads to not only her demise, but the demise of others.
This is the essential story of Hamlet.
It applies to any human in a struggle of this kind, be it male or female.
It is a universal condition, not a masculine or feminine one.
Hunting for Sparrows is certainly worth the time and effort it will take to read it.
One might wish to keep a copy of Hamlet nearby, to cross-reference and ponder.
She knows this not by empirical evidence but by her own intuition in the form of a vision.
She knows that Claire Wise, CEO and founder of multi-billion dollar international corporation, Wise Woman Inc.
, was murdered.
Her untimely death was caused by the greedy, corrupt ambitions of her lover, Steve.
Steve had been her close friend and her jealous underling.
He had been there from the beginning, he got in on the ground floor, when she was growing her company.
Thelma wants justice for Claire Wise, powerful symbol of feminist power.
But she is unsure of the guilt of Steve, the one she would accuse.
In order to be certain she does her own empirical test of guilt.
She has his deeds played out in a film, and then she watches him while he watches the movie.
"The Play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.
" Thelma is an anagram of Hamlet, which in turn is an anagram of Amleth, the original historical character on which Hamlet is based.
Hunting for Sparrows is a brilliant twist on Hamlet; a feminist version of the timeless story of a man who could not make up his mind.
Like Hamlet, Thelma's sanity, not the guilt of the murderer becomes the central issue of the story.
Steve, the man who murdered Thelma's mother leads the charge on Thelma's sanity, claiming concern for her.
He wishes to have her committed.
He convinces the others that she has no grip on reality.
Of course, this is what he must do, because otherwise she might convince everyone of his guilt.
He calls into question her perceptions about other things.
He manipulates the other characters with his lies while Thelma convinces them of her madness with her cynical humor and inappropriate jokes at odd moments.
When someone sees a truth too frightening to accept, they are often accused of madness.
But denial is a form of madness too.
Denial helps one feel more comfortable, and as a result, may result in a more socially acceptable manner of behavior.
By the same token, willingness to see a painful truth may result in behaviors that are outside the socially acceptable norm.
Both conditions are a form of madness.
Thelma, like Hamlet, hesitates.
She has the opportunity to get revenge, or justice, however one defines it, but chooses not to take it.
She reasons herself out of it.
She can't decide and act on what she knows.
But she can't forget it either, and let it go, nor should she.
In other words, she can't make up her mind.
Her failure to act, her indecisiveness leads to not only her demise, but the demise of others.
This is the essential story of Hamlet.
It applies to any human in a struggle of this kind, be it male or female.
It is a universal condition, not a masculine or feminine one.
Hunting for Sparrows is certainly worth the time and effort it will take to read it.
One might wish to keep a copy of Hamlet nearby, to cross-reference and ponder.
