Over the years, numerous authors have been inspired to reinterpret Shakespeare's works. Jane Smiley is one such author. In her 1991 novel 'A Thousand Acres' she retells Shakespeare's 'King Lear'. The Lear character becomes Larry Cook, a farmer in the American mid-west, and the story is told from the perspective of his eldest daughter. 'A Thousand Acres' went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992. 

 

'Because we started reading Shakespeare’s plays when I was in seventh grade (age 12), I felt him as a constant presence when I was growing up—at first mysterious and sometimes frightening, and then more and more understandable. I grew fascinated by his willingness to try every form. He came to seem familiar, somewhat like an older brother, and when I started writing books of my own I took him as my model; if he could try every form, why couldn’t I? When I wrestled with “King Lear” in order to write "A Thousand Acres", I felt him retreat again to his own partriarchal culture, but I was forever grateful that he mentored me.'

 

Image credit

A stormy sky over a cornfield in the American countryside

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