An Eco-feminist Interpretation Of Doris Lessing’s The Grass Is Singing

Doris Lessing (1919-2013), as one of the most extinguished female writers afterWorld War II, gains much reputation because of her various literary genres andprolific works. Her works nearly cover all the aspects in the20thCentury, such asracism, communism, feminism, mysticism, modern psychology, etc. The mainconcerns of her novels are politics and the fate of women. Due to her greatcontribution to English literature, Lessing has received many famous literary awards,including the Somerset Maugham Award, the David Cohen British Literary Prize. Shewas nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature several times and finally got it onOctober11,2007. Her early works are highly autobiographical, which are set in SouthAfrica and based on her personal life experiences there.The Grass is Singing, Doris Lessing’s maiden work, was written before she leftRhodesia and published in1950when she had moved to England. Since it came out,the novel has received wide attention. Its background is in South Africa which iscolonized by the Great Britain in the middle of the20thCentury. The author describesthe white settlers’ cruel and ruthless exploitation of nature, the oppressed woman bymen, the miserable life of the black natives and the inequality experienced by the poorwhites. Lessing is deeply concerned about these groups and shows her sympathy forthem.This thesis makes an analysis of the novel from the eco-feminist point of view. Itreveals the ecological awareness, feminist consciousness and Lessing’s profoundreflection on the relationship between human and nature, men and women, differentraces and classes. The adoption of eco-feminism literary criticism broadens theresearch perspective of the novel and promotes a profound understanding of it.This thesis consists of three parts: an introduction, the main body and aconclusion. The introduction makes a brief introduction of Doris Lessing and herworks, the main idea of The Grass is Singing and the research status of it both athome and abroad. Besides, it also explains the significance of this study. The main body is composed of three chapters. Chapter One gives an introductionof eco-feminism: its emergence and development and its main viewpoints. As amovement that combines feminism and ecology, eco-feminism attempts to explore theclose relationship between the exploitation of nature and the oppression of women. Itadvocates mutual respect and understanding, intending to overthrow all forms ofoppressions. Eco-feminists promote a biocentric worldview and hold that patriarchy isthe fundamental root of different oppressions which are imposed on nature, women,races and classes. Their ultimate goal is to establish a harmonious world and achievesustainable development.Chapter Two analyzes the oppression of nature and women in the novel. To gainmore profits, the white colonists come to South Africa and deprive the black nativesof their land. They think that humans are superiors to nature and should dominatenature. Dick and Charlie are two typical representatives of them. They exploit naturalresources greedily without protecting the land, which destroys ecological balance. Asa representative of white female, Mary stays away from nature and considers land as ameans of making money. At the same time, under the influence of patriarchy, menalso oppress women ferociously. The heroine, Mary, has to endure the indifference ofher father in her childhood. When she gets married, her husband is also mean and coldto her. What’s more, the black natives also disobey and despise her as a female whitesettler. Consequently, nature takes revenge on humans and Mary shows her resistanceagainst men’s torture. Eco-feminists regard the patriarchy as the basic ground of theoppressions of nature and women. They express the expectation for a harmoniousrelationship between humans and nature, men and women.Chapter Three discusses the inequality and injustice between races and classes inthe novel. After the arrival of white colonists, the black natives are driven to marginalposition. They are maltreated by the whites. The local government also stands by theside of whites and cares little about the miserable life of blacks. Meanwhile, there alsoexists discrimination in the white society. The rich whites think the miserablecondition of the poor whites is a challenge to their dignity. They consider the poor asinferiors and look down upon them. Eco-feminists believe that patriarchy is also the fundamental root of racial and class inequality. They advocate people to build anideal world where different races and classes are equal.Chapter Four analyzes people’s efforts in pursuing harmony in the novel. At first,Mary has an unknown sense of fear about the land, which makes her stay far awayfrom nature. However, on the last day of her life, she realizes her bond with natureand approaches nature bravely. Through the description of Mary’s death, Lessingleaves readers to be aware of the importance of enjoying and protecting nature.Besides, there are also harmonious elements between Dick and Mary despite Dick’soppression over her. What’s more, the contradiction between the whites and the blacksis also relieved to some extent through the change of the relationship between Maryand her black servant, Moses.The conclusion highlights the important points of the above four chapters. Underthe influence of patriarchal ideology, the white colonists destroy the ecologicalbalance in South Africa through ruthless exploitation of the land while men imposegreat spiritual oppression on women. There also exist racial discrimination and classexploitation. The final tragedy of the white settlers gives a warning to the modernpeople and inspires them to challenge the authority of traditional patriarchal ideology.The novel also appeals to people to make efforts to pursue harmony and maintainsustainable development.