Restoration Of Harmonious World

Sue Monk Kidd is a famous American female writer. The novel The Secret Lifeof Bees taught by Britain and American high school and college classroom winsvarious international awards and nominations for her. Kidd is a moderate ecofeminismwriter whose first book The Secret Life of Bees is a classic ecofeminism novel aboutthe theme of growing-up. She criticizes the alienation of man and woman relationshipdominated by patriarchal culture, seeking for the factors that promote harmony andcaring between the two sexes in marriage and family. At the same time, she highlightsthe healing and nourishing effect of nature, as well as striving for constructing a realharmonious society between human and nature, human and human.The Secret Life of Bees tells a story of growing up, which a fourteen-year-oldgirl who looks for regression self from natural spirituality. Lily experiences a series ofthings during her growing up. But she finally heals herself in the bee yard andachieves important metamorphosis and rebirth of her life with the caring of Calendarsisters, finding her spiritual mother and lost self. Although there are many scholarshome and broad studying the novel, few scholars deeply discuss the ecofeministthought embodied in the novel.Therefore, this thesis attempts to interpret this touching novel from theperspective of Ecofeminism. Focusing on the exploration of a white girl in1960s, thisthesis aims to show: on the one hand, the intimate relationship between women andnature—they are inter-relievable and interdependence, on the other hand, revealing the domination and oppression of man to women and nature in patriarchal culture.However, the core of ecofeminist criticism is exploring the root of the dualdomination of women and nature—the critique of patriarchal culture, and striving forreconstructing a harmonious society. It will be studied from the following fourchapters.Chapter Ⅰ introduces the author Kidd and her novel The Secret Life of bees aswell as ecofeminism theory.Chapter Ⅱ discusses the inharmonious relationship between men and women,men and nature.Chapter Ⅲ illustrates a harmonious reconstructed by Kidd between human andsociety, human and nature. This shows Kidd’s ecofeminism thought.Chapter IV refers to some findings, limitations and suggestions explored fromEcofeminism.