Date of Award
1-1-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A. in English
First Advisor
Karen Raber
Second Advisor
Ari Friedlander
Third Advisor
Sarah Baechle
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
Previous scholarship on early modern landscape and identity has broadly linked geographic areas to the skin color and the temperament of large groups of people or geographic areas to social/familial groups. In this thesis, I focus more closely on the individual by examining how the landscapes and environments characters in early modern plays interact with force them to adapt, change, or recognize something about themselves in relation to the wider world. Specifically, this thesis analyzes the titular characters of William Shakespeare’s King Lear and Macbeth and Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton’s Timon of Athens and their relationships to bogs, heaths, and woods. Adopting Frederick Flahiff’s claim in his article “Lear’s Map” that the storm scenes take place on a bog, I argue in chapter one that being forced out onto the bog causes Lear to reflect on who he is post-abdication and adapt to a new way of life. In chapter two, I examine Macbeth’s fear of succession through the lens of ecophobia to show how Macbeth fears growth that he cannot control and cannot escape. Lastly, using the mining process as a model, I examine in chapter three Timon’s relationship with the woods surrounding Athens. I argue that despite his grave being reclaimed by the sea, Timon remains unchanged by his experiences in the woods.
Recommended Citation
Purnell, Elizabeth, "Bogs, Fields, and Forests: The Influence of Landscape on Identity in King Lear, Macbeth, and Timon of Athens" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3364.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/3364