The Weyward Sisters: Shakespeare and Feminist Politics

by Dympna Callaghan, Lorraine Helms, Jyotsna Singh

In this alternative to traditional Shakespeare studies, Dympna Callaghan, Lorraine Helms and Jyotsna Singh address Shakespeare's works in terms of, amongst other things, the feminist history of sexuality, the ideology of romantic love and feminist interventions in performance. Their objective is to produce new interpretations of the plays by locating them at the intersections of a range of contemporary critical, theoretical and cultural practices. Drawing on cultural history, psychoanalysis and performance, the authors provide a materialist feminist account of Shakespeare which attempts to expand the terrain of political approaches to the interpretation of Shakespeare. They write collaboratively, believing that through collaboration they begin to re-define scholarship as a communal enterprise rather than as an isolated, apolitical act.

Genres: Nonfiction

164 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1994

About the author

Dr. Dympna C. Callaghan is Professor of English at Syracuse University. Her expertise is in the playwrights and poets of the English Renaissance. She was President of the Shakespeare Association of America in 2012-13.

Callaghan has held fellowships at the Folger, Huntington, and Newberry Libraries, at the Getty Research Centrer in Los Angeles, and at the Bogliasco Center for Arts and Humanities in Liguria, Italy. She is a member of the editorial team of A/S/I/A, the Asian Shakespeare Intercultural Archive and and co-editor of the Palgrave Shakespeare book series.