Environment
The roles of the river in early modern times
An excerpt from Reading the River in Shakespeare’s Britain surveys some of the cultural roles of rivers, including how Shakespeare mentioned them in his plays.
Environmental history and the muckhill fine for Shakespeare's father
New research casts a more positive light on why Shakespeare’s father was fined for building a muckhill.
33 Shakespeare quotes about the weather
If you’re running out of ways to say, “It’s too hot,” try Shakespeare. Here are over thirty ways to complain about the weather.
Shakespeare and the Environment, with Todd Andrew Borlik
Todd Andrew Borlik’s book explores the ways that the ecological concerns of Jacobean England appear in Shakespeare’s plays.
Shakespeare and the Ocean, with Steve Mentz
Steve Mentz’s books connect literary criticism with marine ecology. He takes us on a deep dive into Shakespeare and the sea.
In Search of Nature’s Not-So-Lost Treasures: Juan Eusebio Nieremberg on Ecology
Folger Fellow Javier Patiño Loira explores early modern concerns about nature and extinction.
The habitability of our planet—is it only a contemporary issue?
A solution for pollution?
In honor of Earth Day, here’s a prominent early modern treatise against air pollution in London from the Folger collection: “Fumifugium,” published in 1661.
Shakespeare, ecology, and the environment
What does Shakespeare say about ecology and its politically engaged cousin environmentalism? Neither term appears in his work—unsurprising since they hadn’t been coined yet.