Women Out Of Misery—Gradual Development Of Eco-Feminist Thoughts In Margaret Atwood’s Novels

Margaret Atwood,"the queen of Canadian literature", is well known as her concerns for nature and women. Atwood is often viewed as an eco-feminist writer and catches a great attention from the world.Atwood’s eco-feminist thoughts are reflected in almost her works including poems, short fictions, novels and critics, in which novels are the most representative. Many clues can be found in her novels to show her ideas about protecting environment and making women as equally as men. The thesis has selected four novels by Atwood—The Edible Woman, Surfacing, The Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx and Crake—and aims to examine the gradual development of eco-feminists thoughts in her works. Duality about relationship between nature and men as well as women and men is the basic theory for this paper.The Edible Woman, as the beginning, is the first step for nature and women to lose their own right. Nature is destroyed by several kinds of pollutions; women are put into a lower social position. Marian begins to awake to resist. In Surfacing the conflicts between nature and men and women and men are more severe. The narrator takes resistance to the patriarchal society and recognizes the link between women and nature. The Handmaid’s Tale, the extreme conflicts between men and nature and men and women are described. Instead of protecting the environment, men believe that the new world controlled totally by the male is the best. Depriving women’s right to read and write is the effectual way to make the world better for men. From the ending it is not very difficult to find that Atwood believes that oppressions are the worst way to develop human society. An abnormal picture is depicted in Oryx and Crake; nature is ruined completely by modern bio-technology, so does human beings. As mentioned before Atwood insists that the only way to create an advanced and a balanced society is to reach harmony between men and nature and between men and women. Atwood wants to imply that no nature no future; no women no men; and no harmony no hope. Eliminating oppressions on nature and women is the way to save this world from deterioration.As an important criticism, eco-feminism is becoming more and more important in literature. Margaret Atwood has become one important female writer in this area because of her great contributions. Human society is developing with a marvelous speed, however, many problems appearing which were unimaginable in the past. The best way is not to ignore them. Human beings have to admit them and find solutions to them. According to Atwood’s eco-feminist thoughts, putting nature, women and men at the equal position is the best method.