Shakespeare's Sister: Mary Vere Bertie and What She Tells Us About Shakespeare (Dorothea Dickerman)

Mary de Vere defied her family, outmaneuvered powerful individuals in Queen Elizabeth’s court, crossed the Channel into a warzone to save an army, and may have inspired some of Shakespeare’s most unforgettable heroines. This historical lecture focuses on Mary’s life and her relationship with her brother, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, the man many believe wrote the plays and poems attributed to William Shakespeare. Born an earl’s daughter in 1554, her parents’ deaths sent Mary and her brother to live in the humanistic circle of the Cecils and the Cookes, at the heart of Tudor power. Mary de Vere defied family and royal expectations to avoid an unwanted betrothal and choose her own husband. With a strategy combining risk and unlikely alliances, she navigated skillfully around those who opposed her marrying Peregrine Bertie. Her courage was worthy of any Shakespearean heroine, but Cymbeline’s Imogen and The Winter’s Tale’s Paulina in particular echo this chapter of her life. During the Spanish Armada, Peregrine Bertie commanded all English forces in the Netherlands. Mary aided his victories by selling her jewelry and family heirlooms and crossing the Channel twice, in winter, into a war zone, to deliver armor, clothing, and provisions to England’s struggling troops. Her patriotism and sacrifice, forgotten today but well-known to her Elizabethan contemporaries, cast new meaning on Katherina’s enigmatic closing speech in The Taming of the Shrew. Late in his life, unfounded rumor convinced Peregrine that Mary had been unfaithful to him. Despite every effort to persuade him of his mistake, his rejection of her broke her heart. Clues and references in Othello shadow Peregrine and Mary as Shakespeare’s inspiration for heroic but misguided Othello and loyal but tragic Desdemona. Did Shakespeare model these powerful heroines on a real woman in the Elizabethan court? And was that woman Mary de Vere Bertie? Drawing on primary sources, extant letters and historical records, Dorothea Dickerman traces striking parallels between Mary and Shakespeare’s heroines, including Cymbeline’s Imogen, The Taming of the Shrew’s Katherina, and Othello’s Desdemona. Video Chapters: 00:00 - Shakespeare’s Heroines and Mary de Vere 03:58 - Who Was Mary de Vere? 07:57 - Mary de Vere in Elizabeth I’s Court 12:00 - Mary de Vere, Cymbeline and The Winter’s Tale 25:30 - Married Life and Hamlet 26:40 - The Road to War in the Netherlands and Henry IV, Part I 32:23 - Jealousy and Othello 36:33 - Family as Bond 37:10 - Mary de Vere and Katherina’s Closing Speech in The Taming of the Shrew Watch more videos about the other women in this series: This talk is part of a series exploring the women closest to Edward de Vere and what their lives reveal about Shakespeare’s works: Anne Cecil:    • Dorothea Dickerman – The Roar of the Mouse...   Elizabeth Trentham:    • Dorothea Dickerman – Elizabeth Trentham an...   Explore More: Explore more Elizabethan history and Tudor women: https://www.dorotheadickerman.com This talk was presented at the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship annual conference in New Haven, Connecticut in 2025. Learn more at: https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.org/ #MaryDeVere #ShakespeareHeroines #Shakespeare #ElizabethanEngland #TudorWomen #Othello #TamingoftheShrew #PeregrineBertie Further Resources In addition to liking, sharing, and subscribing to the SOF’s YouTube channel, sign up to join the SOF’s free email list at: https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.o... You can also check out: “Who Really Wrote Shakespeare?”:    • Who Really Wrote Shakespeare? Shakespeare ...   “12 Reasons to Question Who Wrote Shakespeare”: https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.o...