Open Access"This Blessed Plot": An Ecocritical Approach to Shakespeare's Second Tetralogy
Author(s) -
AUTHOR_ID,
Silvia Barna
Publication year - 2021
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Dissertations/theses
DOI - 10.33015/dominican.edu/2021.hum.04
Subject(s) - craft , context (archaeology) , human spirit , human dimension , environmental ethics , philosophy , literature , history , art , epistemology , law , human rights , archaeology , political science
This research project aims at bringing to light the non-human dimension in Shakespeare’s second tetralogy, i.e., Richard II, 1 Henry IV, 2 Henry IV and Henry V. In the context of the military confrontations that preceded the Wars of the Roses, the disruption of human relationships bears an impact on the land and the non-human cosmos in general. Through his literary craft and thorough understanding of human and non-human nature, Shakespeare reveals an intricate network of relationships, which, even when broken, can be mended. My project is guided by a presentist understanding of literature. Studying the relationship between the human and the non-human in Shakespeare’s histories can also inform our own relationship with the land we inhabit and our mutual interdependence. Matter and spirit are integrated in this analysis and inspiration is drawn from Pope Francis’ so-called green encyclical Laudato Si, which invites us to see the earth as our common home and, consequently, exhorts us to be responsible and caring.