Hag-Seed: Chapter 10 Summary & Analysis

Shoveling the snow off his car, Felix feels his advancing age. However, eventually he gets it going and drives out of the driveway, feeling more prepared than he has all morning.

Felix remembers an email he received from Estelle a month ago, inviting him to lunch. Felix accepts, although he always worries that he will succumb to her flirtatious attitude. Although he likes her and finds her attractive, “he has a dependent child, and those duties come first.” He meets her in Wilmot, a nearby town, and finds Estelle wearing a sparkly necklace and bursting with cheerfulness. She praises Felix’s work but he modestly demurs, giving the prisoners all the credit.

Excitedly, Estelle tells Felix that she’s arranged something special for him. Over the years, she’s done lots of favors, like getting funding to pay for props and technical supplies, and getting Felix access to higher-ups in the prison. Now, she tells him that his course is going to be visited by some important politicians, including the Justice Minister—a post now occupied by Sal O’Nally, who has moved up in politics over the years. He’s been pushing a “tough on crime” agenda, but his willingness to visit makes Estelle think he’s more open-minded than he seems.

Pretending to be calm, Felix asks who else is coming. He already suspects it’s Tony, since his own nemesis has also ascended to federal politics and is often seen alongside Sal. When Estelle confirms his hunch, he pretends to remember him only vaguely and refers to him patronizingly as “my right-hand man.” He wonders if he seems agitated; he can’t believe how lucky he is to have both his enemies visit him in the one place where he might be able to hold power over them.

Estelle confides that, in political circles, there’s been some talk about cutting the Literacy Through Literature program, as many politicians don’t see the point. Estelle hopes that this visit might save her “baby,” and she’s thrilled with the results that Felix has managed to achieve; she’s been telling everyone that Felix manages to use the arts in both a “therapeutic and educational” context. Both the Ministers, she says, will want photos with the inmates. Felix nods, but gently refers to them as “actors”—he refuses to call them prisoners while they’re in his class.

Fortunately for Felix, Estelle has kept the secret of his identity from the Ministers, referring to him only as Mr. Duke. When he thanks her gravely, she “twinkles” with pride. The Ministers will be coming, she says, on the day of the performance, and will watch the play on TV with Felix, after which they’ll meet with the actors—almost like the premiere of a real play. Knowing that she’s craving praise for this coup, Felix tells her she’s a “star.”

Estelle asks Felix which play he’s chosen for this year. Although he’d been planning on Henry V, just in this moment he changes his mind and announces his intention to stage The Tempest. Estelle is visibly disappointed, and he can tell that she’s thinking the play is “way too gay.” Gently, she points out that the actors have always related best to plays about wars and politics. Felix responds that, as a play about prisons, The Tempest will be eminently relatable. To himself, he thinks that it’s also a play about revenge.

Anxiously, Estelle wonders if the Ministers will like his choice of play; she twists her hands in consternation, but Felix reassures her that both the Ministers will “relate” to it as well.