Didn’t Shakespeare Write Hamlet? —Not in France

Most people think "Hamlet" was written by William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon—but that hasn’t always been the case in France. As the new book Shakespeare in France demonstrates, the Prince of Denmark was first brought to the Paris stage in the French language by Alexandre Dumas, pere, the author of The Three Musketeers and the Count of Monte Cristo. The comedy "As You Like It" was introduced by none other than George Sand, the well known early feminist. In both cases, the French writers took noticeable liberties with the Bard’s works, adapting them to the sentiments of their countrymen.

Now, in Shakespeare in France, these works have been rendered back into English, "so that we can appreciate the interpretations of these great French masters," as translator Frank Morlock puts it. Before turning to historical romances, Dumas was the most successful French playwright of his time, and when he offered his own translation of "Hamlet" to his countrymen, he didn’t bring them a literal rendering of the tragedy, but his own sophisticated interpretation. The same may be said for George Sand's adaptation of the comedy "As You Like It." Also included to round-out the volume are the poem "Ophelia" by the Symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud and a detailed introduction by Morlock, which explores the history of French drama, Shakespeare’s influence on it, and the background of these works.

"These plays, both interesting in themselves, shed light on the French way of looking at Shakespeare and the talents of Sand and Dumas as dramatists themselves," Morlock explains. Dumas wrote more than 60 plays, and Sand more than twenty.

Specializing in the translation of the works of classic French writers that have never before appeared in English, Frank Morlock has become something of an Internet phenomenon, with translations appearing through Project Gutenberg and several web pages. His translations of Dumas, Charles Nodier, Eugene Scribe, and Ferdinand Dugue have appeared in book form from several publishers. In 2006 The North American Jules Verne Society awarded Mr. Morlock a plaque for his translations of plays by Jules Verne. In addition, Mr. Morlock has published several plays of his own.

Before devoting himself to the translation of the neglected classics of French literature, Frank Morlock led a full life devoted to public service. After earning a degree in forensic science and two master’s degrees in law, he served during the Vietnam War in Germany, Thailand, and Iran, and worked for a short time at the Pentagon. After nearly ten years in the army, he entered the Public Health Service and spent a decade with the FDA before entering private-practice as a lawyer. Retirement finally gave him the opportunity to follow his scholarly and creative impulses, and he now devotes himself to translating classic French drama and to writing his own plays and screenplays.

Distributed by Lulu.com, Shakespeare in France can be ordered from most booksellers or directly from the publisher (www.StrangeExcursions.com) and can be previewed online at Google Books (http://books.google.com/books?id=bZmW21HFCjAC).

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