Ecocriticism

Ecocriticism is defined in our article as the study of the relationship between literary and cultural artifacts and the natural environment. When we apply this definition to Shakespeare we tend to see it as a literary device that Shakespeare cashed in on. He tends to compare man to asses, women to cows. The earth is used as a magical nexus. Flowers can provide the power to intoxicate humans making them perform acts they otherwise would not commit. This is evident in "A Midsummers Night Dream" when the fairy, Puck, who takes care of the land is sent to cast a magic spell on humans to fall in love with other people. Once the spell is cast the only way to reverse it is through a special flower. Shakespeare is calling into question the Elizabethan Societies Antropromorphism point of view. Their view is that man is the center of nature, and this view was evident by the increase of population in this era, and the onset of the enclosure policy. The enclosure policy was a policy that forced people off their lands and the land was used for sheep and cattle to graze. Homelessness and crime increased but the English economy began to flourish. With the growth of sheep wool became England's greatest commodity. England became self sufficient in all crops.
Deforestation was in high demand to make room for agricultural crops, housing, and ship building. It is a fact that nature was being destroyed for the comforts of man, and Shakespeare exposes this. In “The Tempest” a boat wreck is what causes the displacement of Prospero “the rightful Duke of Milan” (Shakespeare 3064). Prospero uses his magic to conjure up a storm to shipwreck those who usurped his power of Dukedom. Nature is the reckoning force and it seems like Shakespeare is trying show that if we continue to use nature then nature will destroy us.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream"

William Shakespeare's, “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” gives off the impression of what we categorize as a soap opera today, but a deeper look inside the play gives an unequivocal account of skepticism. Rene Descartes writes about skepticism in his “Meditations,” where he questions the existence of everything. He points out that we cannot be certain of anything except that we are thinking beings. He brings up the notion that we cannot know whether we are sleeping or awake, what is real and what is not. This is a theme in Shakespeare's play, “A Midsummer Night's Dream.” We are taken in and out of reality. We started with a King and Queen, who are betrothed not out of love, but of the King's conquering the Queens land. They are then asked to decide of a matter of real love versus a father's power to deny his daughter the marriage of real love, and force her to marry someone of better pedigree. We are then plunged into the middle of an argument with a King and Queen of fairies who are fighting over a changeling child. Titania, the queen of the fairies, wants to keep the child, and Oberon, the king of the fairies wants her to get rid of the child. In both instances Shakespeare is questioning whether love can exist in reality or is it an absurd notion that belongs in a fantasy world. Fantasy and reality come together in the form of magic and dreams. Shakespeare is questioning the realities of love, especially when Titania, the queen of fairies, falls in love/lust over a man with the head of an Ass. He also questions love in a broader aspect when the characters are sleeping and awake under a magic spell. The characters fall in love with the first one they see, and they all act as if they are drugged. Once the spell is lifted the characters think they were dreaming. This is the instance that Shakespeare ties in Descartes' idea of skepticism. When you do not know whether you are awake or asleep, and you can fall in and out of love through magic, then how can we determine whether love actually exists and is not just a fantasy?