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Across the world, millions of people are taking to the streets
demanding urgent action on climate breakdown and other
environmental emergencies. Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future
and Climate Strikes are part of a new lexicon of environmental
protest advocating civil disobedience to leverage change. This
groundbreaking book -- also a Special Issue of the Journal of Human
Rights and the Environment -- critically unveils the legal and
political context of this new wave of eco-activisms. It illustrates
how the practise of dissent builds on a long tradition of
grassroots activism, such as the Anti-Nuclear movement, but brings
into focus new participants, such as school children, and new
distinctive aesthetic tactics, such as the mass 'die-ins' and
'discobedience' theatrics in public spaces. Expert international
authors offer fresh insights into the strategies and goals of these
protest movements, the changing vocabulary of environmental
activism, such as the 'climate emergency', and the contribution of
specific protest actors, particularly youth and Indigenous peoples.
They also consider how some governments have responded to these
actions with draconian anti-protest legislation, and by using the
Covid-19 pandemic as cover to keep protesters off the streets. The
scholarly analyses are complemented with first-hand interviews of
some leading protagonists, including Extinction Rebellion leaders
and Green Party politicians. The result is an unrivalled analysis
of the role of new environmental protest movements seeking to drive
a new generation of policies and laws for climate action and social
justice. This impressive book will prove an important and
insightful read for students and scholars interested in
environmental law, climate law, and grass roots activism
specifically.
Of the five major Shakespearean tragedies-Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo
and Juliet, King Lear, and Othello-King Lear is perhaps the most
challenging. Issues of rulership, family and blood, are overlaid
with bastardy, loyalty, lust, and deceit. Add to this the
apparently gratuitous on-stage blinding of Gloucester, the deaths
of Cordelia, Lear, Gloucester, and Kent, and one might be inclined
to agree with Samuel Johnson that "The good suffer more than the
evil, that love and suffering, in this play, are almost
interchangeable terms and the driving force of the action is
derived from the power of the evil to inflict mental agony upon the
good" (quoted in Kermode, 505). However, one would be mistaken to
accept wholeheartedly the happy endings of the eighteenth and
nineteenth century revisionists. While the pleasant ending would
certainly ease the sensibilities of the audience, it would omit the
Aristotlean concepts of hamartia and the purgation of fear and pity
attendant upon actually witnessing Shakespeare's King Lear, the
necessary catharsis, a possible scapegoat for our own emotions. Of
course, the ending is to some extent unpleasant and even shocking;
however, one can argue that the ending is organic to the play; the
ending IS, to a great extent, the play.
The Merchant of Venice is problematic. Not only does it present the
disparate and unrelated stories of the caskets and the trial for a
pound of flesh, but it challenges contemporary audiences to
evaluate the treatment of Jews and what constitutes justice. The
character of Shylock, although presented as an object of ridicule
and even comedy to Shakespeare's patrons, might even be considered
tragic to one sensitive to injustice. In fact the implied
definition of justice is challenging: what justice is represented
by a forced conversion from one belief to another? The definition
of friendship between Antonio and Bassanio is itself quite
satisfying; Bassanio at one point says he would sacrifice his wife
for the friendship (IV.i.292-97) which naturally Portia bridles at.
The character of Portia, herself, is also challenging. While
intelligent, rich, and beautiful, she behaves questionably when she
deliberately entraps Bassanio-her affianced lover-into ostensibly
betraying her by giving away her ring and then apparently treating
the whole incident as a joke. Surely Bassanio is entitled to a
modicum of resentment if not anger. Additionally, she entices
Nerissa to do the same with Gratiano. While this scene (V.ii) would
evoke great laughter from an audience who is in on the joke, to a
modern-thinking person, it smacks of sexism: ridicule the male at
his expense and make fun of him for his resentment. Of course, the
groundlings would pay no attention to such an offense. It seems
clear that The Merchant of Venice today demands re-interpretation
and re-definition.
Of the five major Shakespearean tragedies-Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo
and Juliet, King Lear, and Othello-Macbeth is in some ways the most
accessible. For one it is the shortest. For another the witches
continue to attract audiences just as they did during Elizabethan
times. In addition he cinematographic approach of the last
act-cutting easily from scene to scene-works as well as it did in
Shakespeare's time. Thus, the play is a natural to introduce
students to the Shakespeare canon. Probably it doesn't rival Romeo
and Juliet in popularity with students or Julius Caesar with
teachers, but nevertheless it is a finished, representative work of
the best of William Shakespeare. In addition the main
theme-ambition-one which is relevant to Americans today, can be
witnessed again and again, especially during our quadrennial
presidential elections. "I have no spur to prick the sides of my
intent," Macbeth muses; there are those seeking to attract the
public eye for whom this statement applies equally well. I cannot
say I enjoyed reading Macbeth the first time. It was an assignment
and, as do many students, I disliked having to read the play.
However, over the years of teaching the play and re-reading it-by
choice-I have come to regard the play with respect and
simultaneously admiration for the playwright. The play communicates
its own special numen. Macbeth is the most tightly unified of the
Shakespearean tragedies, and it is filled with major
themes-ambition, definition of character, allegiance to one's state
and king- and some which may be regarded as minor-sleep, drink, and
humor. None of them could be sacrificed as together they make a
unity of approach meant to satisfy the general audience and the
groundlings. As one who has a foot in both camps, I believe the
play is a masterpiece.
It is probably natural that a reader feel sympathy for Desdemona;
falsely accused, she suffers some of the most offensive
name-calling in all of Shakespeare. But it is also appropriate to
sympathize with Othello. He becomes malleable in the hands of Iago
who molds him to his own vindictive purpose, never disclosing his
reasons. Additionally, one should admire Emilia who is truly heroic
in her denial of the accusations against Desdemona, her resistance
to her husband's subjugation of her, and in her triumphant
realization of justice and punishment for wrongdoing.
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