Climate as Climax in Shakespeare's Plays

International audienceThanks to the recent advent of ecocriticism in the field of Shakespeare studies, we are becoming increasingly aware that the representation of climate in early modern drama intersects with discourses on crops and food as well as on race and humours. Yet, as climate resists being represented, few critics think of considering its role per se. What did it really bring to early modern audiences? Keeping in mind the Greek etymology of " climate, " klineio or " slope " (i.e. latitude), is quite useful to account for a number of references linked to humoral physiology that prevailed at the end of the 16 th century. Unsurprisingly, Shakespeare feels concerned by the ways the local weather durably affects the nature of men as well as by the way their humours are temporarily modified, through the skin, by climate and environment. Yet, I will argue that this very concern actually prompts him to reverse traditional points of view in order to show that things also work the other way round. Indeed, in some of his plays, the playwright insists on men's unfortunate capacities to provoke violent climactic disorders and to generate chaos on earth. As an example of the interactions between men and weather conditions in Shakespeare's drama, I will explore climate as climax in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear. Indeed, in these three works, action is framed by, grounded in, and focused on severe climactic conditions