An Ecofeminist Reading Of Eustacia's Tragedy In The Return Of The Native

Thomas Hardy is regarded as one of the most outstanding of English writers. He established his reputation with his creation of novel and graced it with his poetic achievement. With great achievement as novelist and poet, he is thought by many second in greatness only to Shakespeare. Up till now, the writings of Hardy have already been interpreted from a wide variety of critical perspectives.Ecofeminism, a movement with joint efforts of both deep ecology and feminism, is a burgeoning literary criticism. It has drawn more and more attention at the background of globalization and environmental crisis. Ecofeminism claims that women are closer to nature; the root cause for oppression of women and nature is the patriarchal dualistic thinking.The Return of the Native is Hardy's first important tragic novel. Set in Egdon Heath, the story presents the intense conflict between the old country and the modern urban civilization. This thesis tries to explore Eustacia's tragedy in The Return of the Native from an ecofeminist perspective.This thesis consists of an introduction, the main body and a conclusion. Its main contents are as follows:The first part is introduction, which is mainly about the author Thomas Hardy and his works, a review of the research concerning The Return of the Native at home and abroad, and the aim of this thesis.The body part of this thesis consists of four chapters.The first chapter introduces the theory of ecofeminism, the general survey of its development and its main viewpoints, which provides a theoretical foundation for the novel.The second chapter begins with the author's life experience to seek for an explanation of Hardy's attitude toward nature and women in his works.The third chapter dwells on the analysis of the embodiment of Eustacia's ecofeminst consciousness. Crowned as"Queen of Night", Eustacia is as wild as Egdon Heath; she shows no regard for Victorian patriarchal social norms and has the courage to purse her own happiness. The fourth chapter examines causes that lead to the tragedies of Eustacia. First, the industrial revolution ruined the rural environment, changing the simple of the countryside and altering the social values of its inhabitants. Second, according to the analysis, the root cause for Eustacia's tragedy is the Victorian patriarchal society.Finally, the conclusion summarizes the thesis: employing the literary theory of Ecofeminism, the thesis interprets The Return of the Native, which not only helps reader to understand the novel from a new angle, but also calls for building a harmonious society between man and man and man and nature.