{"product_id":"tree-becoming","title":"Tree-Becoming","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrees abound in Shakespeare's plays, and in \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTree-Becoming\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eShannon Kelley explores how he uses his characters' identification with cypress, balsam, bay laurel, myrrh, and pine trees as metaphors to express emotional distress.\u003c\/b\u003e Opening new avenues for investigating knowledge of the plant world in early modern literature, Kelley traces the Ovidian conceit of arboreal transformation in \u003ci\u003eA Midsummer Night's Dream\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eKing Lear\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOthello\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Tempest\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThrough the recurring motif of tree-becoming, in which characters who can no longer endure painful feelings align with or are imagined as trees, Kelley proposes a radical reading of Shakespeare's depiction of trauma's lingering impact on the body and psyche. These arboreal moments resist resolution and resist healing, offering instead a vision of survival and endurance. Bringing Shakespeare in conversation with insights from critical plant and trauma studies, \u003ci\u003eTree-Becoming\u003c\/i\u003e honors survivors of trauma as they are, not as we would have them be: they become trees – different, but not less than.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57484128780661,"sku":"9781501787300","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781501787300.jpg?v=1786266164","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/tree-becoming","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}