The story of Cady, her friends, and her frenemies is deserving of a Shakespearean treatment—a tale of how relationships are broken by misunderstanding and repaired by circumstance and humility. William Shakespeare’s female characters were never as strong as those of Tina Fey’s creation, which is why I had so much fun giving the Bard a dose of feminism in William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Mean Girls. Writing this book has been an absolute joy. I only hope I have done the movie justice.
A note about the staging: The film Mean Girls jumps freely from scene to scene, often in short clips that make a joke or emphasize a point. On Shakespeare’s stage such quick flashes would have been almost unknown, so I improvised. Characters enter and exit the balcony quickly, and brief cinematic scenes spanning multiple days and locations are tied together in a single theatrical scene. For example, in Act III, scene 2, Damian finds the Kälteen bars in Cady’s satchel that he had just pretended to steal, whereas the movie switches to a separate scene in Cady’s home. The final scenes of the film alternate frequently between the Mathlete competition and Spring Fling; I have rearranged these into two distinct scenes. Finally, because Cady’s voice so often narrates the film, in my adaptation she has more asides than Shakespearean characters ever would.
This is my first Shakespearean adaptation outside the action/sci-fi genre and my first adaptation of a story centered on the lives of women. I decided to try something I had never done before. Instead of including Shakespearean references at whim, whenever and wherever they occurred to me, I paired each main female character in Mean Girls with a Shakespearean counterpart. In other words, each Shakespearean reference is taken from a specific Shakespearean character. These are the characters I paired together:
Cady: Miranda in The Tempest. Miranda is an ingenue who has lived most of her life secluded with her father in a remote wilderness, not unlike Cady. (I broke this pairing once, when Cady uses lines borrowed from Hero in Much Ado About Nothing. The quote from Hero was so perfect for the moment that I had to use it. Can you find it?)
Janis: Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. Beatrice has a caustic, biting wit and a fierce loyalty to her friends.
Regina: Kate in Taming of the Shrew. Kate, the titular shrew, starts off the play as a harsh woman with a sharp tongue.
Gretchen: Viola in Twelfth Night. Viola, dressing as a man, serves as a constant go-between and wears a different face with each character.
Karen: Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. Juliet is the youngest of Shakespeare’s heroines. She is innocent and hopeful.
Mrs. Heron: Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra. Cleopatra is the regal, intelligent woman who has come from Africa.
Mrs. George: Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s cruelest, most cunning villains. Yes, this is unfair to Amy Poehler’s portrayal of Mrs. George, who is nothing but positive and fun. My thought was that anyone who could raise Regina must be a piece of work.
Ms. Norbury: Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. There’s little textual connection here—I just love Tina Fey so much that I thought, “Who could represent her except a majestic fairy queen?”
In addition to these references, you will likely notice other Shakespearean nods and conventions. After Cady and Aaron kiss for the first time, they begin speaking to each other in rhyming quatrains, like Romeo and Juliet. Kevin Gnapoor, the adorable badass deejay and math geek, uses a mathematical term every time he opens his mouth.
Thanks for reading, friends. Go forth and be your amazing selves. And watch out for buses.