“Hunger and Lead”: An Ecocritical Reading of Robert Schenkkan’s The Kentucky Cycle

Creating a true awareness of history, in the sense that Leopold mentions above, entails a far larger definition of history itself, one that would incorporate a history of environment together with human history. Although in his book Leopold was originally referring to experiences like boy-scouting, Robert Schenkkan’s 1991 play The Kentucky Cycle also, albeit in quite an ironic manner, offers its audiences a similarly valuable historical awareness. This essay, in trying to prove the play’s value as environmental literature, will analyze its place in the new, more human-centered trend appearing in ecocriticism through the help of Aldo Leopold’s notion of the land ethic and through the newly emerging field of ecopsychology. Moreover, this paper will also try to establish that the play’s status as a realistic Broadway piece gives it an additional advantage in the ecocritical discourse that other works of EcoTheater do not have since its purpose is to reach large audiences that are not already engaged with environmental issues.