Casting Off Patriarchal Ideology, Getting Close To Nature

Willa Cather is an outstanding woman writer in the first half of the 20th century in the American literary history. She is best known for her Nebraska novels. O Pioneers! and My Antonia are two prominent works among them. Reading her works, readers can see the beautiful scenery of the America west prairie; feel the provincial atmosphere personally on the scene; experience the European immigrants'perseverance and hard-working; and sense the author's earnest wish for the harmonious relationship between man and nature. In 1920s, Cather's literary career achieved its highest glory. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. During her life, she published 16 novels, 55 short stories, 2 collections of poems and 1 collection of essays. Her works are especially impressive for the depiction of many female characters. She creates a group of female characters, who are strong and independent. But the male characters under her pen are tended to be ignored or regarded as the foil characters. So far, more and more studies on Cather and her works have been done. Many literary scholars have focused on the study of Cather and her works from various angles, such as the writing background, style, narrative technique, female characters, themes, symbols and so on. However, few studies on the male characters have been done, especially in terms of their ecological consciousness. This dissertation is to analyze the ecological consciousness and the patriarchal ideology of the male characters in O Pioneers! and My Antonia, and explore the relation between the patriarchal ideology and the ecological consciousness.The dissertation will be divided into five parts: Introduction part mainly presents a brief introduction to the author and the works and the current researches status. Chapter One introduces the patriarchal ideology, ecological consciousness and the impact of patriarchal ideology on male's ecological consciousness. Chapter Two focuses on the anti-ecological features of some male characters with patriarchal ideology in the two novels. Chapter Three analyzes the ecological consciousness of some other male characters with non-patriarchal ideology. Conclusion part summarizes the argumentation in terms of the influence of patriarchal ideology on males'ecological consciousness and presents suggestions for the future development of man-nature relations. With the analysis of the patriarchal ideology and the ecological consciousness of the male characters in these two novels, the dissertation reveals the influence of patriarchal ideology on males'ecological consciousness. Under the influence of the patriarchal ideology, men tend to discriminate against and disparage women. Therefore, they are prone to be self-centered and attempt to conquer the nature for the sake of private economic benefits. They are greedy, unsatisfied and unhappy. On the contrary, men who respect and appreciate women may treat nature respectfully and friendly. They and nature live in harmony. They are happy and satisfied. Patriarchal ideology has great negative impact on not only female but also male. Male is also the victim of the patriarchal ideology. The adverse impact of patriarchal ideology on males'ecological consciousness is obvious. Therefore, male is supposed to cast off the patriarchal ideology, get close to nature and enjoy a harmonious relationship with nature.