Theatrical Illusion and the Performance of Fictional Minds in Hag-Seed

As the focalised character in Hag-Seed (Atwood in Hag-Seed. Penguin, London, 2016), a retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Felix’s loose grasp on reality and theatrical world view forms a key part of the text’s critical commentary on ‘the relationship between reality and fantasy that theatre provides’ (Howells in Contemp Women’s Writ 11:309, 2017). In reference to reader data transcribed from a book group discussion of the novel, this chapter draws on contemporary research in the stylistic representation of fictional minds to consider how Felix’s mind style (Fowler in Linguistics and the novel. Methuen, London, 1977) is related through his collective characterisation of the prisoners, and via his blurred representation of fantasy, reality and theatrical production. It is argued that Felix’s distinctive characterisation, and his dramaturgical world view, is a central part of the recontextualisation of the themes of performance, performativity and illusion from the original play.