Women In The Wilderness

With the development of green movement and women movement, a new literary trend, ecofeminism, emerged in the late 1970s. With women's liberation from those restrictions and rising of people's awareness of protecting the environment in which we live, ecofeminsim has attracted many critics'attention, who apply the theory to the literary works to make some studies.Roughing It in the Bush is the representative of Susanna Moodie who was an outstanding Canadian female writer. Roughing it in the Bush written in 1852 had great influence on the early female pioneering life. Susanna Moodie and her work have enjoyed much attention from the critics who have been exploring and studying all the way in recent 20 years, making large quantity of comments on its form, genre, characters and theme.In this thesis, the author applies the theory of ecofeminism to Susanna Moodie's work Roughing It in the Bush, making a relative systematic interpretation. In the first chapter, the author first gives a brief introduction to the author, Susanna Moodie, her life, her representative work Roughing it in the Bush, and her other works. In the second chapter, the author offers literature review of the novel, aiming to lay a good foundation for the following study. Then in the chapter three, the author offers a brief exploration of the theory of ecofeminism which is the theoretical foundation for the study. On the above basis, chapter four and five mainly deal with the literary text studying on feminist and ecological factors, binary oppositions in the novel:men versus women, civilization versus wilderness, ration versus emotion, master versus slave; and the close relationship between women and nature reflected in the novel. Last but not least, the author exposes re-constructing an ideal and harmonious relationship between human beings and nature for which the novel calls.The thesis only makes an interpretation from the perspective of ecofeminism. The findings of the study have many limitations to some extent, proving some implication and leaving enough space for others to make further systematic studies or from other perspectives.