Joanna Murray-Smith’s Australian Plays

Through her writings, the Melbourne-based author aims to draw a clear picture of what it means to be a woman nowadays and what kind of difficulties one has to go through. All of her female heroines are struggling with the same kinds of issues: ‘How do they define themselves professionally?’, ‘How do they cope with the complexities of their emotional life?’, ‘How do they find room for a professional life and a personal life?’, ‘How do they deal with long-term relationships?’ Love Child, Honour, Bombshells and The Female of the Species aptly express Joanna Murray-Smith’s aim to portray the problems and issues of contemporary female society. Their themes centre on female identity, generational conflicts and the delicate, but unique universal bond that ties a mother to her daughter. The book tries to provide answers to some key issues of major importance: ‘What is the effect of motherhood and / or career on the gender identity of women in Joanna Murray-Smith’s plays?’ and ‘How does having children change the way women in the four plays think about themselves?’