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Module Tutor: Dr Helen Williams
Module Name: The World in Print
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Eco-criticism in Shakespeare’s MacBeth
It is impossible to deny nature’s role as a reigning existence over all aspects of life and knowledge despite varieties. The world’s maintenance and continued existence necessitates the harmonious coexistence and shared responsibility of both man and nature. Nature and man are interdependent, but when society tries to reign over and commercialize nature, it leads to a violent conflict resulting in the calamitous breakdown in man’s relationship with nature. This results in a most dire effect on the whole ecological structure. The human realm, as a part of this incredible ecosystem, must follow Nature’s law to maintain an ecological equilibrium. The close study of a literary text using the critical scope of ecocriticism entails identifying nature’s depiction within the text. Ecocriticism is a structured field of study that originated in the United States in the late 1980s and in the early 1990s in the UK. Cheryll Glotfelty, in her influential work The Ecocriticim Reader (1996), interprets Ecocriticism as “the study of relationship between literature and the physical environment” (xviii). Hence, the study opens a new field of enquiry. Every literary work is deeply rooted within the physical realm of human existence. The ecocritical view is a way to raise environmental awareness in the readership by condemning the superficial illustration of nature and its environs. It sets the stage for the revelation of the battle of dominance between culture/nature differences. This paper seeks to analyze William Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606) through the critical lens of ecocritical theory. It attempts to bring to light multiple aspects regarding the depiction of nature, natural events, and the material reality within a literary text.
Eco-criticism
Ecocriticism highlights the colorful and mystical features of sovereign Nature that rejuvenates the entire civilization. Simon C. Estok asserts that ecocriticism has extricated itself by taking a noble stance in its earnest and firm determination to the tangible material world enduring a myriad of changes. Cheryll Glotfelty opines that “Ecocriticism is a study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment” (xviii), and is concerned with the interlinkage between culture and the natural environment. Michael P. Branch, in the 1998 collection Reading the Earth, points out that ecocriticism is not limited to studying nature in literature: it extends the human understanding of global community and calls for cultural change. Ecocriticism aims to broaden perspectives by exploring the constraints on our capacity to imagine an eco-friendly civilization due to our cultural assumptions regarding the natural world (Estok 221). Lawrence Buell’s The Environmental Imagination records the term “‘ecocriticism’ as [a] study of the relationship between literature and the environment conducted in a spirit of commitment to the environmentalist praxis” (Estok 221). Sarver asserts that the eco-critic, through the application of feminist, Marxist, post-structuralist, psychoanalytic, and historical theories expound on nature’s reflection and perception within literary texts. Eco-criticism analyzes the entwined role of women, the plants and animals, and the ‘discriminated others in the civilization’. Ecocriticism critiques excess materialistic rationality, rejects anthropocentrism, and supports environmental awareness primarily since it acknowledges ecological wealth and diversity are inherently valuable and should not be dismissed, despite the purely conventional human reasoning. It supposes that human agencies cannot diminish this diversity.
Summary of Shakespeare’s Macbeth
This paper uses the theoretical construct of ecocriticism to analyze Macbeth, a Shakespeare’s most popular, evil and psychological tragedy. Shakespeare’s Macbeth “… dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake” (“par.1).” Three witches foretell the rise of Macbeth, a valiant Scottish general, into the Scottish kingship. Ambition controls Macbeth, and his wife manipulates him to kill King Duncan and seize the Scottish throne for himself. Afterward, he feels guilty and paranoid. As a result of being driven to commit multiple murders, he becomes a domineering king. The carnage and subsequent civil war drive Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to madness (“Macbeth” par.2). His ambition propels him to his downfall. Macbeth’s ascent and downfall depicts Nature’s influence over the thinking and behavior of man. In Macbeth “there is a chain of portents, a ghost and fateful coincidences…Malcolm and Macduff seem providentially guided by symbolic green boughs…. The world…they live is outlined; moral, political and religious ideas are presented; ambition, courage, fear, evil, tyranny, isolation and despair…on the deep reality of the hero and heroine the tragedy depends” (Brown 61).Top of Form
Macbeth’s Natural Setting
Shakespeare thoroughly blends multiple landscapes, animals, and natural features as backdrop settings in his play. This makes nature a viable study subject. Shakespeare, in Macbeth, uses natural terrains such as prairie, desert, meadow, and field to portray major deeds in the play. All these terrains can be broken down through Peter Barry’s classification of natural landscapes in his book Beginning Theory (2013). It groups the various natural terrains with regards to man’s closeness with nature as:
“Area one: ‘the wilderness’ (e.g., deserts, oceans, uninhabited continents / Area two: ‘the scenic sublime’ (e.g., forests, lakes, mountains, cliffs, waterfalls) / Area three: ‘the countryside’ (e.g., hills, fields, woods) / Area four: ‘the domestic picturesque’ (parks, gardens, lanes)” (246).
From this classification, it is apparent that there is an ensuing transition from nature to culture, with Area Four, being only a decorative and culturized realm in which culture reigns over nature. The classification also reveals the interdependence of culture and nature. It is clear that physical groupings under ‘area one’ are less abused turfs by civilization. However, this subdivision is affected by cultural activities such as global warming, and hence, as some theorists assert, unsullied nature is gone, and forever.
Shakespeare delves into all areas, in Macbeth, but a major part of the critical development of the plot occurs in Areas 1 and 2, that were anthropomorphized to mirror human feelings, desires and the ensuing fall. The portrayal of ‘area one’ and ‘area two’ are attributed to the depiction of happenings connected to universal powers such as destiny, fate, etc. in Macbeth.
The area one, in Macbeth, ‘the Wilderness’ consists the desert while the Area Two, ‘the scenic sublime’ consists of the prairie close to the forest. It is in these areas where activity rises and subsequently falls. A crucial feature in the Shakespearean portrayal of Area 1 and 2 is its extrication from the human, handing it with the responsibility for human ambition. At the start of the play, Macbeth proclaims, ‘Upon this blasted heath you stop our way’ (i.iii). The ecocritical approach perceives this classification anthropocentrically. The dramaturgy and the initial scene of the play are set in ‘area one’ described as ‘a desert place’ followed by ‘Thunder and Lightning’ that introduces three witches’ entry, ‘Enter three Witches’. It is intriguing that the bard employs natural elements like thunder, lightning, terrains and witches as symbolic and universal powers such as destiny and fate, acting as agents to influence and harm Macbeth, as he admits, ‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen.’ Moreover, Banquo remarks, ‘That look not like the inhabitants o’ the earth. Very skillfully, Shakespeare imposes on the atmosphere rather than stressing the human heart’s darkness. Macbeth’s uncontrolled ambition that probably surfaced after the triumph over the rebel, Macdonald and the turncoat, Thane of Cawdor, at the battleground. in the narrative, Macbeth fails to confront his ark desires, imposing them on foreign factors that happened, ‘Upon this blasted heath’ (i.iii) and declare them as, ‘prophetic greeting’ (i.iii). the aside where Macbeth says, ‘Present fears are less than horrible imaginings’(i.iii) iterates the universal interference at heath that drove him to kill King Duncan.
In this way, Shakespeare displays the certainty of cosmic design in trapping Macbeth within its claws. The Shakespearean hero, Macbeth, is depicted as surrendering to the event at the heath. The brief encounter with the surreal figures of the three witches, ‘into the air; and what seemed corporal melted’ (i.iii) continue drifting around Macbeth to cast its spell. As a result, Shakespeare very aptly illustrates the evil agent as nature in corrupting Macbeth’s brave nature.
Macbeth Characters’ Connectedness to Nature
It is intriguing that, in the play, all choices resulting in the final downfall of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are made in the wilderness. This seemingly implies that intrinsically pristine, and that an erratic and impetuous natural environment instills in the human the evil spirit in him or her. This is considered extreme anthropocentrism where the human is perceived as not only central but also the stable center. In contrast, nature is perceived as a fluctuation acting upon a reluctant human. The following enactment of the ambition -in this case King Duncan’s murder- occurs within the castle, a constructed space mirroring human’s desire for comfort and safety as well as an inherent craving for power and recognition manifested in nature’s conquest. It is noteworthy that if the blasted heath instilled ambition within Macbeth, the castle walls caused Lady Macbeth’s psychotic state. It is necessary to analyze the greater effect (if any). The cramped castle confines cause Lady Macbeth’s madness. Hence, its quite troublesome when Shakespeare shifts the burden of responsibility from a corrupted human heart to an innocent heath.
Lady Macbeth is a depraved, self-serving, greedy, cruel, negligent, inharmonious, heartless, haughty, hateful, rigid, devious woman who fans the eco-flagitious fire in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is a major contributor to Duncan’s death since she is an extremely self-centered person who desires and pursues autocratic autonomy. Her materialistic ambitions are unchecked and absurd. Lady Macbeth serves as Shakespeare’s most eccentric and frightful female character who is commanded by the spirit of self-serving development and the all-consuming dominating inclination personifying destructive, perverse and eco-disastrous aspect of humanity. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband with remarkable ease: “Thou wouldst be great; / Art not without ambition…wouldst wrongly win…Which fate and metaphysical aid…seem/ To have thee crown’d withal” (Complete Works 1003). Whenever Macbeth is hesitant, Lady Macbeth constantly questions his masculinity and instigates him till he considers killing to prove himself: “Was the hope drunk? Hath, it slept since…. Art you afeard …. And live a coward in thine own esteem…. Like the poor cat i’ th’ adage” (Complete Works 1005). Beyond her biological infertility, her lack of emotional richness extricates her from the productive and fertile characteristics of Nature. Rather, her corrosive influence erodes all eco-sensitive qualities in Macbeth. Her diabolical schemes plus the unfeeling commercialization of other people reflects her disregard of a certain eco-centric fact that every organism in the environment has a prevailing importance that is unique in its own way. Lady Macbeth epitomizes society’s negative and evil forces liable for eco-cidal disorder and crumbling man-nature relations. Lady Macbeth ends up mad as disappointment and guilt consume her. Beforehand, we saw Lady Macbeth placating and admonishing the troubled Macbeth after killing Duncan that very little water could wash away his guilt. Afterward, her noctambulation all over the castle and the desperate attempts to clean off invisible bloodstains are a manifestation of guilt and likens her to Macbeth whom,
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red” (Complete Works 1007).
The two cases show that in order to wash away both of their respective crimes, Lady Macbeth must enlist the help of an eco-element, ‘water’. Ecologically, Lady Macbeth’s mental anguish probably indicates her eventual succumbing to her subconscious admission, which plots a course of self-discovery and at the same time shows that the delicate organic beliefs, previously concealed under destructive perceptions, are now emerging from the subconscious and unconscious. However, the magnitude of the destruction that Lady Macbeth releases disastrous to the point that she is trapped and engulfed in its vortex. This hinders all opportunities for ecological atonement, rescue or rebirth. Lady Macbeth’s collapse and subsequent recovery of peace and order in the demesne indicate Nature’s role in punishing and eliminating environmentally toxic agents. This contributes to the maintenance of the eco-equipoise, clarity, fairness and harmony at the cosmic level.
Agents of Nature
Macbeth has plenty of non-human existences in their diverse states of mind and happily exalting the open area outside, for example chestnut, stars and their light like fire, witches as bubbles from the earth, Auger-hole, diverse dog-breeds, snakes, bats with their reclusive flight, beetles emitting drowsy hums, crows flying into the woods, night’s black agents heading out for prey, the fierce and rough sea, maggot-pies, the sun, the wind, a mewing brindled cat, the groaning hedgehog and many others. In addition, Nature’s structured method of maintaining the metabolic order of her fellow life-forms is exemplified in“the innocent sleep…that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care…sore labour’s bath/ Balm of hurt minds, great Nature’s course/ Chief nourisher in life’s feast” (Complete Works 1007). The essay “On Nature and Grace in Shakespeare” reads that “Behind [Shakespeare’s] vision and interpretation of the natural world, the poet’s beliefs are always indistinct…but no ending in Shakespeare is more profoundly theological than this one [Macbeth]” (Speaight 8). The play illustrates turmoil in an environment except obscure borders between internal and external Nature. Birnam Wood deposes Macbeth by overwhelming Macbeth’s castle, the dark wilderness ro bring back peace and stability within Scotland.
The Witches
The witches are actually Nature’s agents. They play a significant part in prophesying human fate in the play. They have beards, utilize weird potions, use rhymed speech and are women even though their wild outfit marks them as anthropocentrically eccentric beings. They exemplify a blend of masculine and feminine energies. Witches have many unthinkable mystical powers fundamentally eco-oriented but can be disastrous to man, if mishandled. The witches’ possession of both physical and supernatural strength emphasizes that, in ecological terms, power is not a private product restricted to a [particular gender. Instead, each gender possesses unique forms of power and potentials, each being important, and holding inherent value within the ecosystem. The unity of these powers causes wonders such as the continuation of lineage. The witches are a symbol of Nature’s power encompassing both male and female energy, rejecting the classification of power as only ‘feminine.’ This mirrors the concept of ‘Purush-Prakriti’ in Indian culture, where both are interdependent and auxiliary to each other.
The witches can be found standing either on the heath (unfertile and marshy land) or a desert location amid thunder, lightning and rain or in a dark cavern indicating spaces away from the probability of encroachment and colonialization by society. They are ariel creatures who can traverse both the land and the sea quickly. Their natural frothing is mirrored in Banquo’s definition as “bubbles” of the earth. The wild and bizarre elements “Toad, under cold stone…. venom…boil thou…/Fire, burn…cauldron, bubble/ Fillet of a fenny snake…Eye of newt…toe of frog…blind-worm’s sting…howlet’s wing…ravin’d salt-sea shark/ Root of hemlock silver’d in the moon’s eclipse…tiger’s chaudron…ingredients of our cauldron…Cool it with baboon’s blood” (Complete Works 1016), that the witches used have been observed skeptically. Anything that is wild and beyond understanding is deemed mystical and frightening bewilderment by an ignorant society to excuse its sophistry fueled by baseless biases. The witches have been anthropocentrically indicted of dabbling in devilish necromancy and addressed as the “weird sisters” and the “black and midnight hags,” associated with lingering like dark thoughts. However, from an ecological standpoint, they epitomize the unknown and darkness of the night, a natural and unavoidable feature of the cosmic cycle. Humans often misconstrue this a demonic and savage demesne since humans, fearful of ecological diversity that surpasses their limited knowledge, code of conduct, and predictions, tend to critique its pagan existence.
The witches are not intrinsically negative, and Hecate, their queen, exhibits a responsible, reasonable, and intelligent demeanor, as seen in her berating of the fellow witches for nonchalantly revealing the mysteries of life and death to Macbeth. This reflects a thoughtful ecological motivation. The witches’ spell to “untie the winds…/Against the Churches…yeasty waves/Confound and swallow navigation up…castles topple on their warder’s head…palaces and pyramids…tumble all together” (Complete Works 1016) displays their ability to annul man’s mark of dominance. Therefore, powerlessness, transience, and inconsequence of Society’s bombastic symbols of materialistic conquest are displayed in the face of Nature’s omnipotence.
The apparitions, omens and visions
The ghosts, signs and visions can be perceived as manifestations of Nature’s energy taking mystical and obscure hallucinatory forms to evoke dread and terror in the Eco-calamitous Macbeth. Nature agonizes Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, hence causing them mental anguish, and ultimately destroying them. It also proves that Nature’s energy never dies, but is rather maintained and converted into different forms. Birnam Woods’ aggression toward Dunsinane Hill allegorically, literally and essentially proves Nature’s progressive victory in its war against extreme anthropocentrism. The trees’ “leavy screen” and the “boughs” that conceal and protect Macduff, Malcolm and their army defending eco-justice reflect on Nature’s open intervention to capture and destroy the ruinous course of the degrading human-nature connection. Even though Society’s pride in conquest through the gross incursion of Nature manifests in Norweyan flags mocking the sky, we observe thunder, lightning, rain, and capsizing storms as Natures tool to confront the pretentious man-made instruments, monumental structures and other eco-destructive inventions or weapons such as sword, dagger, lime, net, gin, pit-fall, yoke, etc. appear lowly, ridiculous, weak and insignificant. Duncan’s “horses…turn’d wild in nature…contending against obedience…as they would…War with mankind” (Complete Works 1009) suggestively hints at Nature’s chaotic rebellion against Society’s encroachment into non-human terrain in conjunction with commercialization and domination of Nature. Hence, it is almost as if all cosmic agents and forces have merged into one weapon in their strive for the castigation, pulverization and eradication of the eco-mordant existences so as to protect the ecosystem from degradation both metaphorically and physically.
Shakespeare’s Exploration of Nature using Language
The eco-critical analysis also uncovers the continued existence of culture/nature dichotomies through cultural and linguistic frameworks. language serves as a means of attaching importance to an object as per the place’s cultural norms. This is the way every non-human lifeform is perceived; in that they have their existence observed through an anthropocentric lens. Acknowledging the existence of non-human existences for their inherent purpose faces apparent rejection. This rejection is deeply embedded into social, cultural and political dimensions. Shakespeare, in the play, opts to use the objective parallel of raven to forebode the particulars of future unfolding. This is as opposed to directly referring to Macbeth as a murderer and Lady Macbeth as sinister. Imposing the grossness of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s crimes on the scavenging nature the raven shifts it. The raven’s “hoarse croak” is attributed to the enunciation of malevolent beings. Moreover, the raven’s dark plumage is associated with misfortunes. Nevertheless, all these are cultural constructs that are irrelevant to the Raven species. Hence, it it is an approach by human beings to circumvent the cruelty of human behavior and blame it on nature and its resources.
Furthermore, Macbeth is indeed rich in Nature-imagery, even though there are many forced associations. For instance, in drawing parallels where Macduff’s toughness is likened to a “rugged Russian bear,” “armed rhinoceros,” and “Hyrcan tiger,” or when the color of a woman’s cheeks is compared to natural ruby, and a falcon is used to symbolize society’s positive power, bravery and fame, hyperbole or exaggerations are used to justify the ostentatious strength, plastic beauty, and capabilities of man as equal to the natural characteristics of non-human entities. Malcolm’s self-address as’ weak, poor, innocent lamb’ is ironic and ridiculous as the equation scorns the lambs as frail creatures. Shakespeare uses the term ‘lily-livered’ in the play to mean coward. In this case, the white flower lily is mistaken and wrongfully attributed to human weakness. ‘Full of scorpions in my mind’ describes the serious mental anguish in humans caused by guilt arising from some committed crime in the play. Macbeth is referred to as a ‘Hell-kite’, and a man who wins through treacherous and villainous acts is considered a “mousing owl”. The inherent qualities of scorpions are disgraced by relating them to human flaws and their resulting complexity. The kite’s inherent behavior, of preying from the sky, and the owl’s nightly predation abilities, supported by its innately keen vision, are their biological characteristics necessary for continued existence in the ecosystem. These biological characteristics have been perceived judgingly and stained with the damaging signature of Society’s lousiness and indifference.
Macbeth’s Affirmation of the Inevitable Role of Nature in Man’s Life
Macbeth illustrates the irrefutable fact that outside the confined limits of society, life thrives with vigor, unlike indoors, where it is not as lively. It uncovers man’s anxiety from exposure of an open space driving them to make secure buildings. Ironically, these man-made structures eventually become dangerous wastelands and horrific graves, in which, life is endangered and overwhelmed by physical and mental aspects. Therefore, the play presents us with the shattering of fantasies made by anthropocentric concepts like safety, comfort and tradition, eventually uncovering the failures of man’s inventions that are said to be fortified and reliable shelters. This highlights the reality that Nature is fundamental and ever-supreme to the man-made. In a sequence of tragic and catastrophic events resulting in a gruesome outcome, Macbeth eco-rationally remarks on the idea that one should cease smothering the spirit of morality and divinity. This should be followed by the sincere renunciation of dishonest pretenses built on bogus rationale and hollow knowledge that justifies material conquest. The play clearly depicts another eco-centric notion, that man’s complex feelings of resentment, longings, unrest, disorder, and illness arise from the repressing his conscience as a fiction containing exaggerated idealism and his blatant justification of satisfying capitalistic ambitions. Macbeth depicts man’s total or partial estrangement from Nature erases spontaneity, universal and pervasive wisdom, positive and creative energies in man, eventually rendering his inner world chaotic. It simultaneously cautions us on the grim aftermath of practicing eco-destructive activities to satisfy our bold ambitions of opposing Nature without considering our frailty in the face of the gigantic creation’s mystery. It calls for the decolonialization, rehabilitation and freedom of the poor through eco-friendly cures instead of retaining the artificial and material means in life. Macbeth advises to throw away eco-insensitive anthropocentricism. Rather, It advises to foster the fantastic understanding for one’s wholesome greening. It directly displays that pure joy and content are only attainable through unconditional instillment, free acknowledgement and earnest celebration of the virtues necessary for the rebirth of eco-awareness. Therefore, rather than foolishly burning all bridges of restoration, conceited man should try to overcome his fantasy of dominance arising from blindness. He should begin believing in and acknowledging liberally the organic reality, and to ostensibly destroy autocratic legacies and eco-harmful delusions, before matters become irredeemable. The castigation of outrageous imperialism is significantly echoed in Macbeth and also fosters qualitative values through personal self- discovery.
In a nutshell, nature and its resources have been continuously harvested for man’s use. Human encroachment on natural vicinities is harmful to the ecological system. Shakespeare iterates this view of unawareness of Nature through the depiction of Macbeth’s incredulity at the witches’ advice. Moreover, it uncovers ingrained romanticized notion of nature’s passivity and selflessness by asserting the rejection from man in acknowledging any of Nature’s counteractive actions. Intriguingly, like in the narrative, the imminent disaster that Macbeth eventually faces portrays the fulfillment of the prophecy despite its not resulting from Macbeth’s deeds. Hence, the use of nature and its components in Macbeth strongly asserts man’s dominion over nature. The cutting of branches from the Birnam forest to protect the palace only serves to confirm the prophecy’s authenticity, which is best perceived as a cultural justification of man’s misdeeds. Nevertheless, an eco-centric perspective envisions Macbeth’s demise from the eco-catastrophe. It would conclude that the excess logging of the surrounding forest caused his downfall. As such, the text is fundamentally anthropocentric. On the other hand, a one-sided eco-critical study reveals the hierarchal connection between Nature and culture. It also decrees that capitalism and deforestation are concurrent. This becomes apparent in the play Macbeth through the rise against Macbeth’s tyrannical dominion.
Works Cited
Brown, John Russell. Shakespeare: Macbeth. London: Edward Arnold Publishers, 1967, p. 61.
Complete Works of William Shakespeare. New Delhi: Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd, 1980, pp. 999-1027. ‘All textual quotations are from this edition.’
Estok, Simon. C. “A report Card on Ecocriticism.” AUMLA: Journal of the Australian Universities Language and Literature Association, Volume 96, no.1, Nov. 2001, pp. 220-238.
Glotfelty, Cheryll, and Harold Fromm, editors. The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. University of Georgia, 1996, p. xviii.
Speaight, Robert. Nature in Shakespearian Tragedy. New York: Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, 1962.