Description
Book SynopsisShakespeare on the Ecological Surface uses the concept of the âsurfaceâ to examine the relationship between contemporary performance and ecocriticism. Each section looks, in turn, at the 'surfaces' of slick, smoke, sky, steam, soil, slime, snail, silk, skin and stage to build connections between ecocriticism, activism, critical theory, Shakespeare and performance.
While the word âsurfaceâ was never used in Shakespeareâs works, Liz Oakley-Brown shows how thinking about Shakespearean surfaces helps readers explore the politics of Elizabethan and Jacobean culture. She also draws surprising parallels with our current political and ecological concerns. The book explores how Shakespeare uses ecological surfaces to help understand other types of surfaces in his plays and poems: charactersâ public-facing selves; contact zones between characters and the natural world; surfaces upon which words are written; and physical surfaces upon which plays are staged.
This book will
Table of Contents
1. Slick: Art for What’s Sake? 2. Smoke: London’s Burning 3. Sky: Unfirming the Firmament 4. Steam: Under Pressure 5. Soil: Down to Earth 6. Slime: Sensory Plays 7. Snail: Finding Our Place 8. Silk: Textile Production 9. Skin: Curating Complexion 10. Stage: Disposable Globes
