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Chapter 36
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Hag-Seed, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Theater and The Tempest
Vengeance
Imprisonment and Marginalization
Transformation and Change
Grief
Summary
Analysis
The cell door opens, and the lights turn on. The men don’t know if it’s safe to go outside. From his post, 8Handz cues up a Leonard Cohen song from the speakers in the classroom, and the men venture down the hallway towards the music. Felix says that he feels a little guilty for subjecting Lonnie to this ordeal, but he double checks with 8Handz that a speaker has been planted on the old man’s collar. They watch on the video feed as the men enter the classroom, which looks like a theater’s green room, complete with a bowl of grapes. Everyone starts to eat them, but a tiny voice in Lonnie’s ear instructs him to stay away. Startled and confused, he stands back.
Felix’s admission of guilt is a sign that he’s not as consumed with revenge as he sometimes appears to be, and that he can discern who is deserving of punishment and who is merely an accessory, like Lonnie. While his behavior towards his enemies sometimes likens him to Tony, his careful attention to the fates of other people involved differentiate him from his nemesis and show how he has developed into a far more outward-looking man than he once was.
Themes
Felix asks 8Handz what exactly is in the grapes, and the young man lists off a cocktail of drugs. Soon, he says, the men will be “buzzed out of their minds.” He hits a button to cue a blackout, and thunder roars in the classroom; when the lights come on, the grapes have vanished and a huge bird is waving its wings by the wall. A sing-song voice begins to intone a speech, admonishing the politicians for being “men of sin” and telling them they must “repent and say you’re sorry / if you want a good end to this story.”
While the gist of this monologue comes from The Tempest, the prisoners have updated it to have a more modern and immediate voice. Moments like this show how directorial flexibility can help Shakespearean plays stay true to original principles while also providing gripping experiences for modern audiences.
Themes
Sal begins to weep for Frederick again, and even Tony is disconcerted. Sebert starts shouting that they’ve been poisoned. Lonnie, who feels nothing strange, is confused. Watching on the screen, 8Handz cheers but Felix tells him to leave the men to the trip and check on Frederick and Anne-Marie. The two have been busy making a log pile out of the Legos in the cell and reciting speeches from The Tempest to each other. He muses that it almost seems like it means what they’re saying.
The Legos are a reference to Ferdinand’s role in The Tempest—Ariel orders him to make piles of logs in order to keep him busy while Prospero works revenge on his father. Even though it’s obvious to Frederick that he’s acting out a scripted role, he still develops genuine feelings for Anne-Marie as he’s doing so.
Themes
