Celebrating with Dr Kathy French, author of Shakespeare and Happiness

The Pymble Institute is a proud supporter of scholarly endeavours and was delighted to host the book launch of Shakespeare and Happiness, written by former member of the Pymble English Department, Dr Kathleen French. Kathy taught at Pymble for over 30 years and she inspired hundreds of students to higher levels of understanding of literature. Kathy stepped out of secondary teaching last year after completing her PhD and is welcomed back for guest lectures as often as possible.

Drawing from her dissertation, Kathy’s book examines attitudes to happiness in Shakespeare’s plays and has been described by publisher, Routledge, as ‘the first book to focus specifically on the representation of happiness in Shakespeare’s plays’. The book utilises a feminist lens to explore the role of women by focusing on how they live and achieve happiness. Kathy points out the relevance of this in the context of the #metoo movement and research in the area of positive psychology. The College’s Conde Library holds a copy of the book for interested readers.

The launch included a beautiful performance of Hermia and Helena from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Drama Captain, Isla Harris (Year 12) and Ava Thomas (Year 10). Supported by Mr Michael Griffiths, Director of Co-Curricular Performing Arts, Mrs Tessa Zwar, Head of K-12 Libraries, and Mrs Mandy Reynolds, Head of Learning Area – English, the launch brought together current and former colleagues and allowed everyone to experience a powerful glimpse into Kathy’s work. She is currently working on her second book which we look forward to reading in due course.