Romantic Imagination And Ecological Thoughts In Ivanhoe

Walter Scott (1771-1832) is a great novelist and poet, who is called"the Father of the Historical Novel"in Europe, and whose novels have a far-reaching impact on other famous writers all over the world. In this sense, it is reasonable to consider him as not only the most important novelist, but also the real inaugurator of the English novel in the 19th century. Thus, most literary critics and readers would like to appreciate Scott's writings from the focus of the perfect combination between history and novel; however, his great ecological thoughts have been neglected.By analyzing his romantic complex and distinctive ecology in his great masterpiece Ivanhoe from the perspective of ecocriticism, this thesis attempts to explore Walter Scott's ecological vision of freedom, harmony and ecological holism, and review his successful shift from romanticism to ecological writing with the wonderful combination between romantic imagination and ecological thoughts.The thesis consists of three parts. The first part focuses on the introduction of the author, his literary works and the theory of ecocriticism. The body part includes three chapters. Chapter One is about the reading of Scott's life experience and the development from romanticism to ecocriticism, so as to explore the roots of his ecological thoughts in his writings. Chapter Two deals with the enjoyable appreciation of the vivid descriptions of landscape and sceneries, and the harmonious symbiosis of animals and men, from which to prove his deep natural ecological thought: back to nature. Chapter Three analyzes the ecocriticism of human desire and modern civilization which dues to the unsatisfactory reality filled with social and national contradictions, which is made to express his convincing social and spiritual ecological thoughts: to develop the traditional morality and individual personality, to fulfill the equal and harmonious existence among the holistic ecosystem. The last part summaries and emphasizes the important meanings of Scott's deep ecological thoughts. This reading of Ivanhoe with the theory of ecology does not only have some help for the Scott study and the development of ecocriticism, but also be of significance in this harsh modern social environment.