Shakespeare is known around the world as one of the most transformative authors in literary history. In celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday this April, the Marymount Institute Press and Tsehai Publishers introduce the recent publication of: The Lady Vanishes: Fantasies of Female Heroism in Shakespeare’s Last Plays by Theresia de Vroom.

Professor of English at Loyola Marymount University and Shakespearean scholar, Prof. de Vroom examines female roles in Shakespeare’s last plays. She studies the tragic role of women in Shakespeare while contextualizing the depiction of women in contemporary culture thus building an argument of just how revolutionary and feminist Shakespeare’s later writing was.

Particularly in his tragedies, Shakespearean women are often secondary characters. His plays are about tragedies set in motion by men, for example The Tragedy of Hamlet and The Tragedy of Othello. However, in his later plays, there is a change in the female role. The women begin to effect and change the course of each play through the construction of a unique and tragicomic heroine. In these plays, women are characterized by their dependence and disappearances. de Vroom states: “When the lady vanishes, tragedy replaces comedy and dominates the plays. It is not until the female relationship is reinstated that resolution is possible.”

In reality, women and mothers are perhaps the most important people and characters in our lives. Mothers can have the most transformative and significant impact on their child’s life. In literature, there is a classic male hero whereas women have multiple roles that they must balance and maintain in order to be considered adequate. Yet, women’s strength and power come from the multitude of people they can be. Shakespeare, with his tragicomic hero, begins to explore the importance of women and the power of a relationship between mother and daughter, or sisters perhaps. It was not until in his later career that Shakespeare observed female relationships but he was one of the few to do so, then and now.

The Lady Vanishes examines the narrative of mothers and daughters, a story that is rarely told. I asked the author about the nature of this text—she said that it is both academic and philosophical but also accessible for the common reader; that she made the choice deliberately so that her friends, students, and colleagues could all read it. de Vroom remarked that Shakespeare belongs to everyone and as an author, she believes that she should be writing not only for other academics but anyone interested in exploring Shakespeare.

Throughout the book de Vroom uses photographs, images of Princess Diana and Mother Theresa, and an Hitchcock film. The book is richly illustrated in color and black and white. It is original in its contribution to the reading of Shakespeare’s women in his last plays.

So, help celebrate Shakespeare’s 451st birthday and pick up a copy of The Lady Vanishes: Fantasies of Female Heroism in Shakespeare’s Last Plays, ISBN: 978-1-941392-10-2, $64.95

by Ellie O’Brien, an editorial intern at MIP/TSEHAI Publishers

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