Shakespeare’s Confines: Patriarchal and Natural Space in King Lear and The Winter’s Tale

The work presents readings of Shakespeare’s King Lear and The Winter’s Tale growing out of a combination of spatial analysis and feminist ecocriticism. Rooted in Henri Lefebvre’s idea of space as a social product rather than an empty container, I proceed by looking at how specific spaces are gendered in the two plays. Building on the concept of “patriarchal space,” by which I refer to the ways that kings use space to control the physical and/or abstract spaces of others, I examine male-dominated spaces as they contrast to the natural space outside the walls of the patriarchs’ kingdoms.