Call to Action about Moral Turpitude Symbolized by Ecological Degradation in Shakespeare’s Plays

By applying ecocriticism to interpreting Shakespeare’s plays, this chapter explores the ecological degradation of nature in Shakespeare’s plays, such as the drunken Sly in The Taming of the Shrew, the Jew Shylock and Malvolio as the outsiders to take revenge upon the Christian Anthony by Shylock’s asking not money back but Anthony’s one pound of flesh in The Merchant of Venice. Besides, I analyze and comment on the new interpretation of the reversal, the revenge and poetic justice for the poor Shylock in UCLA Emeritus Professor Carol Sorgenfrei’s creative play A Wilderness of Monkeys, a sequel to Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. I expect that people in the society can call to action and pay attention to the environmental problem.