Shakespeare's Extinction: Staging What Has Been Lost
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: Department of English Literature
Abstract
My project interrogates the biocultural impact of species extinction through the prism of Shakespeare. Ecocriticism includes canonical re-evaluations comprising revelatory readings of Shakespeare's work (Bruckner & Brayton, 2011; Egan, 2015). However, this tends towards a literary focus lacking contemporary production applicability. Extinction Studies acknowledges ecological and cultural entanglements that stretch beyond mere existence (Van Dooren, 2014; Bird Rose et al., 2017). Yet this research neglects how such narratives seed themselves in public consciousness. My work is situated in this critical gap. The image of Shakespeare's England as one of bounty is amongst his enduring legacies. Centuries of scholarship interrogate his Arden: nature as the 'bounteous housewife' (Timon of Athens). By contrast, the persistent message today is of species, habitat and ecosystem decline (IUCN, 2021). It is safe to assume Shakespeare's writing represents a more flourishing environment than that of today. Using an interdisciplinary approach, my research seeks to answer the question: how can the gap between Shakespeare's ecological reality and that of today be made legible on stage, increasing awareness of environmental change?
This breaks down into 4 sub-questions which form the research's structure and timeline:
What flora and fauna in Shakespeare's writing have subsequently become regionally extinct? This will be interrogated via ecological and ecocritical work, cross-referencing conservation datasets with
Shakespeare's plays. Some will be identifiable nomenclature like 'polecat' (a favourite insult of Mistress Quickly). Others, like Cymbeline's 'full-winged eagle' might be speculative (the white-tailed eagle?)
What environmental words and phrases are no longer in everyday use? I will undertake a corpus linguistics study of Shakespeare's nature vocabulary; Robert Macfarlane's Landmarks is indicative of this
approach (2015). This will draw from ecocritical practice to decode imagery, highlighting the ecodramaturgical narrative of loss. Eg. 'consanguineous' (Twelfth Night) meaning 'to be kin' might suggest a
more-than-human worldview.
How have previous productions sought to stage the gap between Shakespeare's ecological world and today's? This is an review archive of environmentally-focused productions (e.g. the RSC's As
You Like It, 2016) and analysing new productions (the Tron's anticipated The Tempest, 2023).
How might future productions address this gap? Through a series of scene studies I will lead a practical interrogation of contemporary performance possibilities that marshal Shakespeare's writing in
environmentally nuanced ways.
Through a combination of theatre-based events, publications and conferences both during and after the research period I will disseminate my learning academically, professionally, and to general readership. I am fuelled by interrogating the role theatre can play in the climate emergency. Shakespeare's understanding of the more-than-human world is integral to his writing. Theatre-makers of all kinds have cultural responsibilities to offer new interpretations that speak to the present moment with creativity and authority. At this time of crisis it is imperative to examine the work of the world's most acclaimed nature writer for guidance, solace and inspiration.
I anticipate travelling to watch Shakespearean productions with an ecocritical sensibility that are produced during my research. Other fieldwork will be archive visits to places such as the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust,
the Natural History Museum, Kew Gardens and the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.
This breaks down into 4 sub-questions which form the research's structure and timeline:
What flora and fauna in Shakespeare's writing have subsequently become regionally extinct? This will be interrogated via ecological and ecocritical work, cross-referencing conservation datasets with
Shakespeare's plays. Some will be identifiable nomenclature like 'polecat' (a favourite insult of Mistress Quickly). Others, like Cymbeline's 'full-winged eagle' might be speculative (the white-tailed eagle?)
What environmental words and phrases are no longer in everyday use? I will undertake a corpus linguistics study of Shakespeare's nature vocabulary; Robert Macfarlane's Landmarks is indicative of this
approach (2015). This will draw from ecocritical practice to decode imagery, highlighting the ecodramaturgical narrative of loss. Eg. 'consanguineous' (Twelfth Night) meaning 'to be kin' might suggest a
more-than-human worldview.
How have previous productions sought to stage the gap between Shakespeare's ecological world and today's? This is an review archive of environmentally-focused productions (e.g. the RSC's As
You Like It, 2016) and analysing new productions (the Tron's anticipated The Tempest, 2023).
How might future productions address this gap? Through a series of scene studies I will lead a practical interrogation of contemporary performance possibilities that marshal Shakespeare's writing in
environmentally nuanced ways.
Through a combination of theatre-based events, publications and conferences both during and after the research period I will disseminate my learning academically, professionally, and to general readership. I am fuelled by interrogating the role theatre can play in the climate emergency. Shakespeare's understanding of the more-than-human world is integral to his writing. Theatre-makers of all kinds have cultural responsibilities to offer new interpretations that speak to the present moment with creativity and authority. At this time of crisis it is imperative to examine the work of the world's most acclaimed nature writer for guidance, solace and inspiration.
I anticipate travelling to watch Shakespearean productions with an ecocritical sensibility that are produced during my research. Other fieldwork will be archive visits to places such as the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust,
the Natural History Museum, Kew Gardens and the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Erin Sullivan (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Elizabeth Freestone (Student) |