Have you ever wanted to navigate the world of feminist retellings but don’t know where to begin? Explore some of these recommendations about the more successful adaptations, and how they help take back the narrative from their patriarchal origins.
Very recently I found myself and a close friend at the Waterstones in Bristol on a Friday night attending a book event by Samantha Shannon. For anyone who doesn’t know about her novels, Samantha Shannon is a British author of ‘dystopian and fantasy fiction,’ well that’s what her Wikipedia page says. Really, Samantha Shannon is an expert in fantasy writing, a reader of fantastic feminist novels and a massive lover of dragons.
What I found interesting is that not only is she a best-selling author, but she also took one of the country’s most famous stories (no, not Harry Potter) and turned it on its head, making it one of the first feminist retellings I’ve read. The Priory of the Orange Tree is an epic sapphic tome of a story set in a world besieged by what we would call dragons. It follows the story of several characters including Queen Sabran the Ninth, who is pressed into conceiving a daughter to protect her realm from destruction. But it’s also a feminist retelling of Saint George and the Dragon. During her book event, she went into great detail about how she had always wanted to retell this story, giving a voice to the female characters that in some versions of the legend, don’t even have a name. The most common being the princess of the story. In one version, she is named Sabra whilst others know her as Cleolinda. What Samantha did, was give her a complete backstory. This got me thinking; what other great feminist retellings are out there and what should you take a look at next?
A few Greek reads
Now, my first recommendation has got to be Circe by Madeline Millar. If you haven’t already heard of the novel or the author, here’s a quick overview. Madeline Millar is the American novelist who wrote The Songs of Achilles. She has many works set in Greek times. Circe is just as encapsulating and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize in 2019. It follows the story of the witch Circe who was originally a side character in The Odyssey by Homer. Her original story portrayed her as one of the many villains the male hero, Odysseus, must defeat. Villainised for her lustrous description and as such, turning all of Odysseus’ men into pigs, Homer’s version of Circe is rather flat.
In Millar’s feminist retelling, she is given more than the handful of lines Homer did, bringing the character to life. You get to see how she got to where she is when she meets Odysseus, rather than it being about just him. This retelling is a great example of seeing a different perspective and giving those a voice who was not fleshed out enough in their original texts.If you like Greek mythology, then you will love this next one. Similar to Circe, Ariadne by Jenifer Saint is a great twist on Theseus and the Minotaur. It takes the myth and tells it from the point of view of Ariadne, the princess of Crete and sister to the Minotaur, who ultimately helps Theseus conquer the labyrinth and defeat the Minotaur. What Saint does with this retelling is put another person’s view at the forefront of the novel, rather than the same old male-hero storyline that we see over and over again. It also shows Theseus’ flaws throughout the novel as he uses Ariandne to defeat her brother to then drop her once she has served her purpose to him, further destroying the male hero’s image and giving way to an alternative view of the false hero of the story.
Lilith by Nikki Marmery
I couldn’t talk about women in history and fiction without talking about the first woman; Lilith. Known as Adam’s first wife in the Herbrew creation story, Lilith has always been demonised for refusing to obey Adam and so was banished from the Garden of Eden and basically sidelined for a woman who would do all that Adam wanted. Marmery’s feminist retelling sets Lilith on a quest after she has already tasted the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge (unknowingly by Adam). She finds herself uncovering the secrets of where God’s wife Asherah has disappeared and is determined to save Eve from the life of submission with Adam.
I enjoyed this retelling as it showed Lilith’s determination to save other female characters. Throughout a lot of versions of the Adam and Eve creation story, Lilith is often the scorned woman, jealous of Eve and wants to hate her. However, in this novel Marmery shows Lilith in a different light, pitching female friendship and camaraderie to save The Mother Goddess, Asherah, but also spreading Her teachings among humanity and history – that man and woman are equal.
Book to Screen
Usually, when you ask me whether I will recommend a book or its film equivalent, I will always go with the book. The book is just always better. However, in this instance, I will allow the exception due to the rewriting of a character in one of Bernard Cornwell’s books. Although not a feminist retelling, The Saxon Stories, beginning with The Last Kingdom is a historical fiction about the making of England in the 9th and 10th centuries. It is told from the perspective of Uhtred, a dispossessed nobleman, who is captured as a child by the Danes and then raised by them. Within the story, Uhtred is captured with a young girl named Brida and it is her story that is so much better on screen than in the books.
Within the Netflix tv series, The Last Kingdom, Brida’s character is fleshed out so much more, giving her a stronger storyline, more lines and (spoiler alert) a better death. Within the books, Brida is reduced to a plot filler and is very quickly dead and forgotten off-page. Whereas within the series we see her struggle with her English heritage and Dane upbringing, the agonizing truth of living through multiple miscarriages as well as her desperation to have a baby of her own and her growing hatred for Uhtred when he sides with the Saxons’ time and time again. Her death, in the end, is bittersweet and heartbreaking, but there was no better way for her to die as a warrior with a sword in her hand which the Danes believed would mean they would be welcome into Valhalla.
What all these retellings do is to make the female character front and centre of the novel. It forces society to no longer dismiss them as side characters and catalysts to the progression of the heroic androcentric storylines that we see time and time again. It empowers change in the world of storytelling, which can be seen in the success of the many adaptations that have surfaced in the last couple of years. It’s massively popular with many people and can only bring about the positive change and recognition that these stories need. If you haven’t already picked one of these stories up or in one case, watched it, I would highly recommend you do.
Disgraceful Magazine 