An Ecologist Look Into Willa Cather's Early Works

Willa Cather is a renowned female writer of first half of the 20^th century. In an exquisite writing style her fiction praises the indomitable enthusiasm and strong character of the Western American pioneers. For many years, her works have been interpreted from a wide variety of angles, such as gender or ethnic assimilation. In recent years, critics more and more value the ecological contents of her works. In this context the thesis aims at interpreting her early work from an ecologist point of view.Most representative of Willa Cather's early works are the two novels 'O Pioneers!' and 'My Antonia'. The novel 'O Pioneers!' represents a turning point in Willa Cather's early work. This novel tells the story of the life and love experience of the heroine Alexandra. The thesis analyzes this novel from two angles: from the point of view of the ecological consciousness as well as from the perspective of a multiple moral consciousness concerning land.'My Antonia' is usually interpreted as one of the best and the most representative of Willa Cather's early works. The thesis firstly analyzes the ecocentrism embodied in the description of the harmonious nature. In a second step the thesis demonstrates Antonia's life course, which can be interpreted as an unceasing "self realization" process as propagated by the ecologist.The thesis comes to the conclusion that Willa Cather's early works embody deep ecological thinking and ecocentrism. By analyzing the novels 'O Pioneers!' and 'My Antonia' from the perspective of ecocriticism the thesis does not only allow for a new and deeper understanding of Willa Cather's early work but also demonstrates, how an ecocritical perspective can enhance our understanding of the ecological culture in the 21^st century.