Crime of Men, Punishment of Nature and Voice of the Irish: A Study on W. B. Yeats’ ‘The Curse of the Fires and of the Shadows’

Abstract

Ecocriticism analyzes literary texts from environmental perspective to show the changes and impacts of nature upon people and their lives. William Butler Yeats uses elements of nature and blends history with legend in ‘The Curse of the Fires and of the Shadows’ where history says, Hamilton burnt Sligo Abbey in 1642 and legend says, a troop of Hamilton got lost in the deep fog and a man on a white horse misled them, which caused their doom. Yeats’ story contains a plot marking a revenge taken by nature. According to some scholars, natives of colonies are a part of nature. Killing native monks and consequently disturbing nature, Hamilton’s troops committed a crime. Yeats ensures punishment of the criminal for this crime and hence he personifies elements of nature such as fires, shadows, horse and the moon. This paper interprets Yeats’ ‘The Curse of the Fires and of the Shadows’ in the light of ecocriticism in order to find out how natural elements contribute to promote Irishness and raise the voice of colonized Ireland against the colonizer. This research also aims to identify the ecocritical consciousness of Yeats and to discuss what means he receives to punish humans for their crime against nature. In short, this paper explores Yeats’ rigorous use of nature and illustrates the crime of men, nature’s punishment for that crime and the voice of the Irish portrayed with connotative shadows.