Our Sides of The Stories: Favorite Books Told From Alternate
Points of View
By Julie Sara Porter, Bookworm
Have you ever read a book and thought to yourself, “This
can’t be it; this can’t be the whole story?” Did you ever root for the
antagonist more than the so-called hero? Did you ever wonder what was going
through the heads of the secondary characters when this entire daring do was
taking place? Well this countdown is made for you.
Call them “Postmodern Literature.” Call them “Parallel
Stories.” Call them “Perspective Flip.” Call them “Really Well-Written Fan
Fiction.” I just prefer to call them alternate points of view. The criteria is
that the story has to be told from another character rather than the original
protagonist, whether it is the antagonist or another character. There is one
exception in this countdown but the protagonist is portrayed so differently
that it counts. In one case, the story is told from a character that did not
meet the other character in canon, but is unquestionably an inspiration. These
include plays, short stories, and novels. The list is arranged in descending
order to my favorite alternate point of view.
15.
Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard- Original tale:
Hamlet by William Shakespeare- In Shakespeare’s play, Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern are Hamlet’s two money-hungry sometimes comic relief friends
hired to spy on the Danish prince for his uncle/stepfather. In Stoppard’s witty
and dark play, the duo took center stage as they get involved in Elsinore’s
politics almost against their own will.
Stoppard’s play is full of wit and clever byplay as
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern turn many of their verbal sparring into an almost
tennis match. They play clever games such as when they flip a coin and count
which side up, or where they engage in conversation by asking only questions. Their
intelligence shows in these dialogues.
Stoppard’s Absurdist take of Hamlet turned around the idea of plays and fiction in general. The
duo question their involvement in the conspiracies that surround Hamlet, wonder
if they ever really knew him at all, and wonder if they are characters in
someone else’s design.
14.
Grendel by
John Gardner-Original tale:
Beowulf-
This is probably one of the works that popularized the concept of alternate
points of view. Instead of the Anglo-Saxon hero, Gardner’s main character is
the monstrous creature that haunts Hrothgar’s castle. Instead of being a giant
ogre-like beast, Grendel is furious at these humans who built their kingdom
over his lands and his attacks seem almost reasonable. He thinks Beowulf is a
monster. (Indeed Grendel doesn’t call him by name. He refers to him as a
“brute” and a “beast”)
In Gardner’s clever almost subversive retelling, Grendel
becomes almost a symbol of nature or early civilization fighting their conquerors.
He is also an existentialist character deeply wondering about his own existence
in a world of monsters, human and otherwise.
13.
Fagin
the Jew by Will Eisner-Original tale:
Oliver
Twist by Charles Dickens-Like Shakespeare’s Shylock, many consider Charles
Dickens’ Fagin to be a victim of Anti-Semitism. Eisner’s graphic novel took
this idea and gave it a story of his own. Fagin becomes a truly tragic
character as he recounts his life story to Charles Dickens himself before he is
led to the gallows.
His background is moving as Fagin
recounts his childhood in the Ashkenazic Jewish community of London and his
separation from his family because of a pogrom. He survives the only way he can
in Victorian London by becoming a pickpocket and then training younger
pickpockets as he ages.
12.
“The Case of the Impecunious Chevalier” by Richard
Lopoff-Original works “A Study in Scarlet” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle/”Murders in
the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe-In Conan Doyle’s original Sherlock Holmes
story, “A Study in Scarlet,” Watson compares his friend’s detection to Poe’s C.
Auguste Dupin. Far from flattered, Holmes’ is offended. He calls Dupin a “very
inferior fellow,” and ridicules Dupin’s ratiocination example of guessing his
friend’s thought process as the work of a show off. In Lopoff’s interesting
meeting of minds, Dupin reads Holmes’ insults and is rather offended especially
since he trained Holmes in one of his earliest cases. Lopoff not only cleverly
repaid the debt that Holmes and Doyle owe Dupin and Poe, but the story becomes
a challenge between the two mental giants.
This short story is actually from an anthology book, My Sherlock Holmes, which tells of
Holmes and Watson through other eyes such as Moriarty, Mrs. Hudson, Wiggins of
the Baker Street Irregulars, various clients, Irene “The Woman” Adler, and the
two Mrs. Watsons.
11.
A Thousand Acres
by Jane Smiley- Original tale:
King Lear
by William Shakespeare-Smiley does many of the other authors on this list one
better. Instead of simply revising the story of King Lear through the eyes of
his eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, she transplanted the story to modern
day. Instead of two greedy princesses fighting their senile father for control
of his kingdom, the novel instead is the story of two women fighting for
control of the family farm from their abusive alcoholic father.
The two protagonists, Ginny and Rose, the modern equivalent
of Goneril and Regan, become strong-willed sympathetic characters trying to survive
in a man’s world of farming and remembering the incest from their father when
they were younger. The plot moves from their rejection of their father and
their betrayal from a man who seduces both sisters to its inevitable conclusion
with the two sisters’ lives ruined forever.
10.
Rebecca’s Tale
by Sally Beauman- Original tale:
Rebecca
by Daphne Du Maurier-If any character on this list needed their story told
more, it is certainly Rebecca De Winter, Maxim De Winter’s first wife from
Daphne Du Maurier’s
Rebecca. We
learned about her from De Winter, Mrs. Danvers, and Rebecca’s cousin, Jack
Favell. Heck even the second Mrs. DeWinter got a say and she never knew Rebecca
in life. Beauman cleared up that oversight by providing the reader with
Rebecca’s journal.
Through her own eyes, Rebecca is hardly the paragon of
beauty and social grace that Mrs. Danvers, Favell, or Mrs. De Winter see or the
scheming harpy in Maxim’s version. Instead she is a troubled strong-willed
woman with attitudes and affections that counter her upbringing of the times. Rebecca
adds to Du Maurier’s tale and Rebecca’s actions towards her marriage to Maxim and
her decisions leading to their final encounter become less arbitrary and more
understandable through Beauman’s writing.
9.
Confessions of an
Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire-Original tale:
Cinderella-The first of two Gregory Maguire novels on this list.
Maguire certainly has a history of telling stories from other points of view
and this one is no exception. This recounts the story of Cinderella largely
from her two stepsisters, the possibly mentally disabled Ruth and the aspiring
artist Iris.
The stepsisters are fascinating as they try to survive
accusations of witchcraft that cause them to flee England, their eccentric
domineering mother, and their beautiful agoraphobic stepsister, Clara. Iris is
effective as she tries to please her mother and make her mark as an artist
studying under the Dutch Masters. Ruth’s story is particularly heartbreaking as
she survives to hear their story become a legend which bears little resemblance
to the facts.
8.
Wicked: The Life
and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire-Original tale:
The Wonderful Wizard of OZ by L.
Frank Baum-Maguire’s second book on this list is probably the most famous work
on here mostly because of the well-known musical. In the equally fascinating
book, Maguire tells of the Witch of the West’s (called Elphaba) ostracism from
Munchkinland because of her green skin, school days at Shiz University where
she meets Glinda, studies of magic, and her activism for the rights of sentient
Animals.
Elphaba becomes a unique character branded wicked because of
her inability to follow the status quo and rejections of the manipulations of
the Wizard and Madame Morrible, her devious former schoolmistress. Her journey
from naïve schoolgirl to OZ’s Public Enemy #1 is a fascinating one.
Warning: While I like this story, I did not like the sequel Son of a Witch near as much and never read the other books in the series, A Lion Among Men or Out of OZ, so I don’t have a high or much of an opinion about the
rest of the OZ Quartet series.
7.
The Merlin
Trilogy/The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart-Original tale:
The Legends of King Arthur/La
Morte D’Artur by Sir Thomas Malory-
If a bookstore stocked up on only the various books, movies, plays and what not
about the legends of King Arthur, there would not be room for anything else.
Indeed this list has two in the major countdown and two more in honorable
mention. Stewart’s Arthurian books tells the legends from two characters:
Merlin in the beginning and Mordred in the final book.
In the Merlin Trilogy,
Merlin recounts his childhood under Aurelius Ambrosious, his training in
divination, his relationship with Arthur, and his love affair with Nimue, his young
protégée. The final book The Last
Enchantment is particularly moving as Merlin recounts the final days of
Camelot, his faltering relationships with Arthur and Nimue, and his feelings
that there is no longer a place for him in a world that moves ever so closer to
progress.
Mordred’s book, The
Wicked Day, tells of his life with his four half-brothers and his
encounters with his father/uncle, Arthur, leading up to their inevitable
confrontation. Mordred tells his story not with the world-weary detachment of
Merlin, but instead with bitter cynicism and sarcastic one-liners such as when
he ridicules his brothers, Gawain, Gareth, and Gaheris as pretentious social
climbers using their relationship to “their Uncle the High King” to their advantage.
He is also rebellious towards his upbringing by his mother and stepfather as a
tool of vengeance against Arthur. His tender side is shown as he grows to
respect and care for the King and is reluctant to bring about his downfall.
6.
“The End of Little Nell “by Robert Barnard Original tale:
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles
Dickens-This is the exception to the rule in this list of telling the story
from the original protagonist’s point of view. Many may know of the tragic ingénue
of Dickens’ book
The Old Curiosity Shop
whose death caused many a reader to cry or they may sympathize with Oscar Wilde
that “One must have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without
laughing.” Barnard’s version of the Dickens heroine would agree with Wilde’s assessment.
Instead of a Victorian too-good-to-be-true victim, Barnard’s
clever story gives us a young manipulative gambling prostitute who is well on
her way to achieving her ambitions of being “England’s Queen of Crime.” Nell derisively
talks of the other characters in The Old
Curiosity Shop such as Daniel Quip, the antagonist and ex-lover, the
do-gooder hero, Kit Nubbins (“a dim spark if ever there was one.”) and others.
She mocks their gullibility in how they swallow her goody-two-shoes persona.
She calls Dicken’s portrayal of her “garbage by a hack writer”. However she
accepts that persona as the perfect disguise so she could continue her illegal
activities by faking her death to become a part of London's Underworld.
Like “The Case of the Impecunious Chevalier,” this story
comes from an anthology. It comes from
Dickensian
Whodunits, a book of short stories in which Dickens’ characters and Dickens
himself get involved with various mysteries and crimes.
5.
“Toil and Trouble” by Edward D. Hoch- Original tale:
Macbeth by William Shakespeare-In
Shakespeare’s play, The Weird Sisters are merely a plot device to reveal the
prophecies that send Macbeth on his way and portray Jacobean fears of witches.
Hoch’s brief but suspenseful story gives the three sisters a backstory,
individual characteristics, and a more personal involvement in Macbeth’s life.
Told primarily from the point of view of Selene, the middle sister, the story
recounts how the sisters studied witchcraft from their teacher, Hecate. It also
tells of their relationship with each other as Persephone is the leader guiding
her younger sisters, Selene is the smart one able to see things that the others
do not, and Artemis is the shyest and youngest but also filled with her own
importance.
The atmosphere is equally as dark and chilling as
Shakespeare’s play as the sisters become involved in the bloodshed and murders
around them. The story also comes to a strange, but fitting conclusion as the
trio realize that they have been manipulated and refuse to take part in these
events any longer.
This too comes from an anthology, Shakespearean Whodunnits. Like the Dickens book, this book involves
various Shakespeare’s characters participating in solving murder mysteries
often concerning events in their own plays.
4.
Marley’s Ghost
by Mark Hazard Osmun-Original tale:
A
Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens-Ebenezer Scrooge’s late partner, Jacob
Marley takes center stage in this moving surrealistic variation of Dickens
famous Christmas story. Marley recounts his childhood, his life of business,
his death, and his after-life.
The early years of his childhood are moving as Osmun reveals
Marley’s closeness with his twin brother, the possibly autistic, Ezra. It also
shows many of the hardships faced in Regency and Victorian England as the
readers are treated to scenes of coal mines, poverty, debtor’s prisons, and
other institutions.
The afterlife sections are surrealistic as Marley tows his
chains in a strange world where he encounters three pagan spirits which will be
familiar to readers of Dickens’ original tale. The after world shows the guilt
and longing for redemption inside Marley’s soul and his anguish over his
separation from his long-lost brother and the miserly solitary fate of Ebenezer
Scrooge, his partner and friend.
3.
Medea by
Euripides –Original tale:
Jason and The
Golden Fleece/Jason and the Argonauts- The oldest story on this list. Some
have called
Medea the original
feminist play and I would have to agree. Medea has been characterized as a
femme fatale, dark sorceress, or a sociopathic villain in various works.
Euripides took a more empathetic approach to Jason’s love interest/companion.
In the days after their journey, Medea recounts how she
helped Jason acquire the Golden Fleece by using clever tricks and ruses to aid
his search, murdered a king, and cut herself off from her father to join the
Argonauts and Jason. After the
adventure, Medea is understandably hurt when he rejects her for another woman.
She wonders what was in that entire struggle for her.
Medea’s decision to kill her and Jason’s children becomes
more understanding when Medea reveals that is based partly on a jealous rage to
make Jason hurt, but also to protect the children from a life of exile. Medea
definitely is seen as a multi-faceted fascinating character as she challenges
the fate that she has been dealt with in a faithless and ungrateful lover and
questions who is the real author of her and Jason’s tragedy.
2.
Wide Sargasso Sea
by Jean Rhys-Original tale:
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte-Bertha Rochester is seen in Bronte’s original book as the
mad wife in the attic, Jane’s dark alter ego and an obstacle towards her
happiness. Rhys gives her a complete makeover into a passionate woman
challenging her marriage and suffering from her husband’s coldness to the point
of madness.
Bertha, called Antoinette Cosway in this book, is a Jamaican
white woman descendant of former slave masters. She suffers from the hatred of
the black locals, her mother’s mental illness and preference for her mentally
disabled son, Pierre, and the indifference of her emotionally abusive stepfather,
Mason. She fights her circumstances by arguing, studying obeah magic under her
family servant, Christophine and flirting with other men.
Antoinette’s story becomes a feminist story as she challenges
the circumstances around her, particularly her arranged marriage to Rochester.
Besides being a feminist novel, Wide Sargasso Sea is also seen as an attack on colonialism.
Antoinette’s fascination with Jamaica’s natural beauty and closeness to the
culture contrasts with Rochester’s discomfort with the wilderness around him
and desire for ownership of the people. Antoinette is truly an outsider in
every sense of the word. Because she is ridiculed as “a white cockroach,” she
is unwelcomed by many people in Jamaica and is considered a wild Jamaican by
the English; she is unable to fit in. Much of Rochester’s mistrust of her comes
from his willingness to believe accounts from others about her character. This
results in his rejection of Antoinette and her subsequent madness.
1.
The Mists of Avalon
by Marion Zimmer Bradley-Original tale:
The
Legends of King Arthur/La Morte
D’Artur by Sir Thomas Malory-The best alternate point of view
tells of the Arthurian legends through the eyes of its female
characters primarily Morgan Le Fey and Guinevere.
The two become a study in contrasts in their narratives.
Morgan Le Fey, called Morgaine,
is trained on Avalon’s community of magical women. Her aunt,
Vivienne AKA The Lady of the Lake rears her to study magic, practice
divination, and honor the Goddess. Guinevere is trained in a rigorous convent
where she practices Christianity but fears the outside world full of sin and
what she deems as black magic. Morgaine is raised to be a powerful leader and
advisor to royalty. Guinevere’s only goal is to be the wife of a king and
possibly the subject of someone’s courtly love poems.
The religious and feminist aspects of the two characters
come to a head in their involvements with Arthur. Morgaine and Arthur become
involved in a pagan ritual which alternately fascinates but then disgusts
Arthur when Morgaine bears their son, Gwydion (later called Mordred). Guinevere
tries to get her husband to embrace Christianity and to honor no gods but the
Hebrew-Christian one. Guinevere and Morgaine also have to deal with their
romantic feelings for Lancelot in the former and Accolon in the latter.
The struggles between the two are fascinating to read as the
known events of the Arthurian legends become turned around. The book’s best
character is Morgaine who fights the male dominance of Camelot to protect her
pagan beliefs and the connections to the Goddess.
Other works worth mentioning are Andrew Lloyd Weber’s
musical Jesus Christ Superstar, Finn by
John Clinch, March by Geraldine
Brooks, Jack Maggs by Peter Carey, The Wind Done Gone by Alice Randall, Rhett
Butler’s People by Donald MacCraig, Mr.
Fitzwilliam Darcy: Gentleman Trilogy by Pamela Aiden, Captain Hook: The Adventures of a Notorious Youth by J.V. Hart, I, Iago by Nicole Galland, I Am Mordred and I Am Morgan Le Fay by Nancy Springer, The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood, Ahab’s Wife or The Star-Gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund, and Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard.
So that’s my list. What are some of your favorite stories
told from other points of view? Which long neglected or misunderstood character
do you believe deserves to finally have their say? Let me know in the comments
below or through Facebook.
