40: Problematising Representation: Elsinore and its Reimagination of Hamlet

40: Problematising Representation: Elsinore and its Reimagination of Hamlet

Angshuman Dutta, @angman_dutt, Jadavpur University, Kolkata Golden Glitch’s 2019 game Elsinore is among the innumerable works that have reimagined the Bard and his plays in different contexts, eras and mediums. What sets Elsinore apart, other than it being a game, is how the creators negotiated with the medieval text. They brought out the multiple possibilities which were already present in it through the paratexts of the game. The character of Ophelia is reimagined in the game. Although being the narrative drive in the play, she seldom appears and suffers an off-screen death.

The medium affords Ophelia an agency (Murray, 1997) which she doesn't enjoy in the play. Set in a time loop, Ophelia, the protagonist, dies repeatedly as she learns further about the happenings in Elsinore and tries to stop it. Ophelia's actions write the narrative. Another interesting change is that Ophelia is a person of color. Katie Chironis, one of the designers, explain this by describing her research in an interview and displaying that it was historically plausible for Ophelia’s mother to be SpanishAmerican in Denmark.

Figure 40.1: Elsinore (Golden Glitch, 2019)

Elsinore’s premise and mechanics allowed the creators to flesh out other characters present in the playtext and use them to reinterpret and reimagine the world of Hamlet. Chironis states that ‘each character in Elsinore has a deep and individualized history; they come in all shapes and sizes -- a multitude of races and ethnicities, economic backgrounds, gender identities, sexual identities, and personalities’. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are women in the game and are lovers. The former is cheerful and enjoys pranks. The latter is of a serious tone and scolds the former. A homosexual relationship between Hamlet and Horatio is hinted at quite early in the game when the player asks various characters about their friendship. There is also the presence of a genderqueer character. Bernardo, who was an officer in the original text and the chief of the castle guards here, becomes Katherine for a play in the village. Bernardo’s reply, when Ophelia recognizes Katherine as Bernardo, shines a light on the actors performing women roles of that time.

B – “For many years, I’ve been a player. It started when I was a child, playing Juliet. And tonight it ended, as Katherine.”

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O – “Why must it end?” B – “For a boy player, there are only two options when one grows old: Take the male parts, or leave the stage. And I would rather leave. I never thought the day would come when I would have to stop. I never wanted to. In the moments when I was up there… I felt… like I was showing the world the truer form of myself. The ‘me’ who was not just strong, but beautiful.” The rhizomatic possibilities that pervade the medieval space of Elsinore nuances the Shakespearean representation of characters. The gameworld is populated with marginalised identities provided voice and agency. The game’s introduction of diversity enriches the text. The introduction of the aforementioned characters, the attempt at queering the text and pluralising the voices problematises the portrayal of such characters in contemporary transmedial approaches to medievality making Elsinore a unique retelling of Hamlet.

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