In the immortal words of King Lear, “Nothing will come of nothing: speaketh of sustainability!” Okay, maybe that’s not exactly what Lear said but you can take that up with the experts later this month when Rhodes College hosts Green Shakespeare: A Symposium on Ecocriticism and the Bard. The event promises to bring together a group of international scholars to “discuss how ecological concepts and green issues apply to the interpretation of works by William Shakespeare.”
This will be a unique opportunity for audience members to converse with leading scholars in this emerging field of ecocriticism, which is the application of environmental studies to literature. For example, the discussion will explore ways in which Shakespeare’s works explore the idea of “nature;” fantasies of rural retreat from the city and court; connections between humans and animals; anxieties about manipulation of genetic stock; and contemporary ecological disasters.
I’ll have more on this as the event gets closer.
