He Ecofeministic Interpretation Of Willa Cather’s O Pioneers!

Willa Cather is the first female writer in American literature to write about the“Pioneering Age” of Western America. Among her early excellent works, O Pioneers!is regarded as a manifesto of Willa Cather’s consummate writing style, in which shedepicts the real picture of the American pioneering life and expresses her deep lovefor nature and her concern for the relationship between man and nature. Previousstudies are mainly concerned about Willa Cather’s pioneering theme and feministwriting style, and it is rare to see the analysis on the interrelation between nature,woman and patriarchy in the novel O Pioneers!. This thesis intends to interpret thenovel from the perspective of ecofeminism. It explores the relationship betweenwomen and nature and their status in the patriarchal society. Through a detailedanalysis over the ecological consciousness and the criticism against patriarchalideology reflected in the novel, the study reveals Willa Cather’s love of nature, andher desire for a harmonious relationship between man and nature, and also man andwoman.