| With the development of industrial civilization and human society, modern people have enjoyed the affluent material life and the convenient lifestyle, but also have suffered from a series of problems. The conflicts between man and the natural ecology become increasingly conspicuous, and people's spiritual ecology is seriously unbalanced. Moreover, the whole western society is shrouded by loneliness and isolation. Virginia Woolf, one of the most famous British modernist writers, sensitively realizes these problems, and conveys her understanding of ecology through her works. Woolf shows her moderate and balanced ecological thoughts in her works and advocates establishing a harmonious ecological relationship. Taking her famous modernist novel Mrs. Dalloway as an example, this thesis analyzes Woolf's ecological awareness systematically from the perspectives of her thoughts about nature, idea of the universe, outlook on civilization and view of life and death.The first chapter talks about Woolf's thoughts about nature. In Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf shows great concern about nature, and conveys her thoughts about nature in it. In her opinion, nature has the great and amiable side, but also has the cruel and horrible face. Woolf thinks that man should have the feeling of gratitude and awe to nature. Humans exist as part of nature in the world, and nature is independent of man's will. However, modern people cause severe damage to nature, which destroys the harmonious relationship between man and nature. Therefore, in the work Woolf proposes the ideal condition of the unity of nature and man. She calls on people to conform to the law of nature, and coexist with nature peacefully.The second chapter focuses on Woolf's idea of the universe. Space and time are important themes in Mrs. Dalloway. Woolf has a clear understanding of the infinity and eternity of the universe, and she also realizes the finity and transience of man. These two form a sharp contrast. Compared with the universe, even the whole human history seems to be meaningless, let alone an individual man. Woolf devotes herself to exploring the relationship between man and the universe, and revealing the meaning of man to the universe. As far as she is concerned, universal love is a glorious imprint that humans leave in the universe. Woolf's idea of the universe shown in Mrs. Dalloway is an important part of her ecological awareness.The third chapter discusses Woolf's outlook on civilization. Since the industrial revolution, the English society has experienced a period of economic booming. However, modern civilization not only brings benefit to ecological environment and people's lives, but also causes damage to nature and people's spiritual ecology. Especially after the War, the western society is flooded with the feeling of alienation and nothingness, and people suffer from a serious spiritual ecological crisis. Woolf witnesses the benefit and damage brought by civilization, and she believes people should pay attention to ecology in the process of civilization. In Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf provides solutions to problems above. She advocates that the development of modern civilization should be on the premise of protecting natural environment and caring about spiritual ecology, so as to establish the harmonious relationship of ecology and civilization.The last chapter analyzes Woolf's view of life and death. Woolf has a profound study on problems involving life and death. Both Woolf herself and the characters in Mrs. Dalloway deeply feel the beauty and hardships of life. People are tortured by different dilemmas, fighting like trapped beasts. Instead of simply treating death as the end of life, Woolf endows death with irreplaceable significance. She believes that death is a kind of revolt and return. Woolf thinks both life and death are links in the ecocycle. Through death, humans become a whole with nature and all living things again. Apart from this, death also gives inspiration and encouragement to others.Based on the studies of predecessors, this thesis explores Woolf's ecological awareness in Mrs. Dalloway. Woolf puts great emphasis on the importance of balance, and appeals to the public to establish a harmonious ecological relationship among things. The harmonious spirit runs through her ecological awareness, which is a great enlightenment for modern people to solve the ecological problems. |
