Women’s Ecological Consciousness In My Antonia

Willa Cather is one of the most famous American writers in the early20th century. My Antonia is her representative work. The novel has drawn the attention of scholars and critics since published. They analyzed the novel from different angles. In recent years, with the emergence of ecological crisis, people begin to focus on the ecological consciousness reflected in Cather’s works. Based on professor Lu Shuyuan’s trichotomy of ecology, the thesis interprets women’s ecological consciousness from three aspects, including natural ecological consciousness, social ecological consciousness, and spiritual ecological consciousness. From the angle of natural ecological consciousness, women are more intimate to nature for the physiological similarity with nature. From the aspect of social ecological consciousness, both women and nature have never stopped struggling under men’s oppression and conquering. From the perspective of spiritual ecological consciousness, women, with their gentleness, kindness and selflessness, are also closer to nature. Those are the ways human should treat nature. Human and nature, as well as man and women, should be in harmony with each other. The Antonias love and respect nature, and get generous rewards in return, demonstrating the harmonious development between human and nature. Through the interpretation of the women’s ecological consciousness in the novel, this thesis centered on the harmonious coexistence of human and nature, aiming at arousing close attention and deep reflection on women and natural ecology.