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Although ecofeminism has received little attention in Shakespeare studies, the
movement’s ideology and vocabulary do in fact fit with the motivation of Shakespeare’s father
characters’ use of nature. Ecofeminism emerged as a subset of ecology and was part of the “the
1970s feminist movement” (Howell 231). Ecofeminists observe the other side of nature, such as
being second to culture, and they relate those aspects of naturewith set functions, such as strict
reproduction or being only available for land/possession, to a woman’s subordinate position.
However, most of the published ecofeminists in the field of literary criticism focus on how
nature and women are both oppressed and must dismantle patriarchy to be acknowledged. In her
book New Directions in Ecofeminist Literary Criticism, Andrea Campbell argues that there are
problems in the overlapping environmentalist studies that are the core of ecofeminism. She
writes, “feminists had to challenge both male leadership and patriarchal thinking in order to
make room for a feminist analysis and presence” (Campbell 7). While Campbell is correct in
relating nature and women to male authority and patriarchy, other ecofeminists broaden their
focus beyond the single motivation of women trying to fight for their positions through nature.

Some of the earlier studies of ecofeminism simply observe the relationship of women and
nature to men and culture. Nancy Howell, author of Ecofeminism: What One Needs to Know,
synthesizes the work of major ecofeminist theorists. She quotes Rosemary Radford in her
definition of ecofeminism, noting that “Ecofeminism brings together these two explorations of
ecology and feminism, in their full, or deep forms, and explores how male domination of women
and domination of nature are interconnected, both in cultural ideology and in social structures”
(Howell 232). As Howell observes in Radford’s definition, ecofeminism can be used for the sake
of analysis as opposed to strictly activism. This approach, lacking a radical environmentalist
motivation, is the one that applies to Shakespeare’s plays.