Harmony In Nature, Society And Man: An Ecological Reading Of George Eliot's Three Early Novels

There are a lot of descriptions about the,relations between human beings and nature in Adam Bede, Silas Marner, and The Mill on the Floss. In the novels, Eliot not only described the beautiful rural scenes, but also exposed the destruction of natural scenes, the distortion of human relationships and the loss of self brought about by industrialization. They are the very problems that ecocriticism is concerned about.Generally, ecocriticism is concerned about the ways that nature is reflected in literary texts. It pays much attention to the relationship between man and nature and introspect the position of man in the whole ecosystem. In ecocriticism nature is expanded to refer to the whole ecological circle on the earth and the interrelations in between. Ecocritics stick to ecological equality and holism, arguing that nature is a living entity that has its intrinsic value and all natural objects have their right to exist. Reacting against anthropocentrism, ecocritics also question the logic of industrial civilization which has produced negative impact on the whole ecosystem.Chapter One, the introductory part of the thesis, summarizes Eliot's life and her three early novels, and makes a general survey of George Eliot study both at home and abroad. Meanwhile, an overview of ecocriticism and the focus of this dissertation are also presented in this chapter.The main body of this thesis, Chapters Two and Three, offers a reading of Eliot's three early novels from three aspects: natural ecology, social ecology and spiritual ecology.Chapter Two focuses on the revelation of the imbalance of the three aforementioned relationships in Eliot's three novels. In her novels, nature has been spoiled by the invasion of industrialization, which also leads to the disharmonious human relationships and the alienation of humanity. The comparisons between natural beauty and industrial contamination may guide readers to compare the two different lifestyles before and after industrialization. Industrialization also produces commercial-minded people who neglect precious emotions among family members, lovers and friends. The materialized kin relationship and that between lovers reflect the reality of the industrial society where human relationship becomes very cold and has been distorted seriously. The loss of nature results in the loss of self. The novels also show that the mechanization oppresses human nature, which leads to the loss of the true self.Chapter Three discusses the construction of the balance of the three relationships so as to restore the harmony of the whole ecosystem. To counteract the destructive effect of industrialization, the novels offer a solution of returning to nature. The return to nature leads to the recovery of self and save people from negative impact of the mechanical progress and industrialization. The novels also illustrate the healing forces of pure natural human relations.The fourth chapter is the conclusion. Adam Bede, Silas Marner, and The Mill on the Floss embody the basic ecological ideas on the relationship between man and nature, between man and man, and between man and self. These novels not only expose the disharmony of nature, society and man by realistically revealing the degradation of nature, the ruin of human relationships and the loss of self, but also offer the possibility of solutions to these problems by returning to nature and the healing forces of pure natural human relations so as to construct a harmonious ecosystem. These three relationships are interdependent and interactional in the whole ecosystem, so to read Adam Bede, Silas Marner, and The Mill on the Floss from the perspective of ecocriticism helps us get a new understanding of the relationship between nature, society and man with the ecological consciousness, and it also has a realistic meaning in the 21^st century.