Abstract
How ‘woke’ is eco-Shakespeare? The dynamic field of ecological Shakespeare, or ‘eco-Shakespeare’, traverses environmental justice alongside ethical considerations of more-than-human agency and impact. The term’s origins are situated in Black culture and social justice and use outside of these contexts requires thoughtful consideration to avoid appropriation, virtue signalling and ‘woke-washing’. This chapter examines what and how Shakespearean ecocriticism and ecoperformance might learn from the woke movement’s mobilisation of a critical mass against systemic injustice. Beginning with defining what a ‘woke ecology’ might constitute, discussion turns to an overview of eco-Shakespearean performance and ecocriticism before suggesting a more ecosystemic reading of the texts’ material agents. We argue that a woke ecopoetic may further assist de-Westernising reading practices to allow for a more holistic capture of Shakespeare’s more-than-human textual agents. This, in turn, may point to our species’ embeddedness within complex ecosystems threatened by further degradation and mass extinction. A woke eco-Shakespearean perspective can therefore point us towards greater recognition of intra- and interspecies enmeshment within the plays and poems. This offers further opportunities to take greater personal and social environmental responsibility towards the more-than-human world so deeply embedded within Shakespeare’s textual landscapes.