BEYOND DUALISM: HUMANS AND NATURE IN A RHIZOMATIC FRAMEWORK IN SHAKESPEARE’S THE TEMPEST

Abstract

Shakespeare’s play The Tempest presents prismatic approaches for human beings focusing on the representation of humanity’s relation with Nature. This article explores three central dimensions: how the play explores the tension between anthropocentrism and biocentrism, how Prospero, Ariel and Caliban embody various mindsets of human interaction with the natural world, and how its portrayal of reciprocity between humans and nature addresses the contemporary eco-critical debates. The study primarily argues that Shakespeare presents nature as a reciprocal force both generous and reactive while the characters in the play reflect humanity’s potentiality along with triad of responses towards Nature i.e., eco-phobia, exploitation and integration. By interweaving ecological concerns with human behavior, The Tempest suggests that human survival depends upon their fulfilling collective ethical responsibility in treating nature neither as master nor as an enemy nor as a servant but as an existential partner in a calibrated ecological existence.