Human-Plant Entanglement and Vegetal Agency in the Poetry of Thomas Hardy and Sylvia Plath

This book investigates the poetry of Thomas Hardy and Sylvia Plath under the theoretical guidance of critical plant studies to disclose these two poets’ botanical awareness of the vegetal agency and their attentiveness to the ethical standing of plants in human life.

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Dilek Bulut Sarıkaya scrutinizes human-plant entanglement in the poetry of Thomas Hardy and Sylvia Plath from the perspective of critical plant studies, which is committed to restoring the lost connection between humans and plants. The author offers a theoretical reading of Hardy and Plath’s poetry, focusing specifically on how plants are depicted by these two poets as self-conscious and emotional individuals who are turned into vulnerable victims of humans’ exploitative practices. The author develops a critical argument on the necessity of eradicating humans’ anthropocentric mindsets, categorizing plants as sessile, inert objects and replaces it with a plant-centric world view, perceiving plants as instantly active biological organisms who exist with their botanical accuracy rather than with the impositions of humans’ metaphoric meanings upon them.