An Ecological Interpretation Of The Professor’s House

Willa Cather is a prominent figure in American literature in the 20th century. Her early works mainly portray and sing of the pioneering life in the Midwest prairie, while her later fictions change into religious and historical themes, exploring a real harmony between body and soul, and the ultimate destination of life. The Professor s House, a novel in her transitional stage, presents Professor St. Peter’s hopeless exploration and pursuit for a whole-self amid the overwhelming materialism. By depicting the natural beauty in Blue Mesa and aesthetic pictures of the ancient Indianans’ poetic dwelling in nature, Willa Cather expresses her wishes and aspiration of returning to nature, to original soul and to the rebuilding of the spiritual home. Taking ecocriticism as its theoretical framework, and applying the relevant theories such as Natural Ecology, Social Ecology, and Spiritual Ecology, the dissertation tries to explore those ecological consciousness reflected in this novel and Cather’s green wisdom.Ecocriticism has become an emerging literary school under the context of deteriorating environmental problem. By reexamining human civilization and culture from the perspective of literary criticism, by criticizing and deconstructing anthropocentricism, ecocriticism aims to arouse human being’s ecological consciousness and responsibility. It advocates balanced and harmonious development between nature, society, body and soul. Based on the literature review and analysis of Cather Studies from the perspective of ecocriticism home and aboard, the thesis adopts close reading as the major research methodology to explore and interpret the ecological implication embodied in The Professor’s House. This novel exposes the deteriorating social ecology and struggling spiritual ecology together with the idyllic natural ecology the professor longs for.The dissertation begins with an introduction, including Willa Cather’s literary career, a brief introduction of The Professor’s House, the literature review about Willa Cather and The Professor’s House, the research objectives and the organization of the dissertation. Chapter Two gives a general survey of the ecocriticism, including the definition, evolution and theoretical sources of ecocriticism, and close reading, the methodology, which lay good foundation for the detailed analysis from the aspects of Natural Ecology, Social Ecology, and Spiritual Ecology respectively. Therefore, Chapter Three, in terms of natural ecology, focuses on a stiffing landscape around the professor’s living environment in Hamilton and a harmonious human-nature picture in Cliff City where Tom Outland once lived. Old rented house, the Outland House, stone city, and Blue Mesa are the cases studies to demonstrate Cather’s natural ecological consciousness. This chapter tries to reach a conclusion that nature has its intrinsic and aesthetic value and humanity should live in harmony with nature. Chapter Four, with regard to social ecology, concentrates on the professor’s struggles confronting various forms of domination of man by man. By pointing out the evils of money-worship phenomena and presenting the worsening interpersonal relationships arisen from fetishism, Cather, through the mouth of the professor, voices her distrainment toward the materialized world, her criticism of civilization and war. Chapter Five, from the perspective of spiritual ecology, mainly elaborates the professor’s sufferings from identity crisis, religious beliefs and mid-aged psychological problems. It points out the importance of a balanced spiritual ecology—harmony between body and soul.The thesis concludes that Willa Cather is a great green writer with deep ecological consciousness. Her ecological thinking reveals the importance and necessity to live in harmony with nature. A harmonious relationship between human and nature, man and man, mind and body is a possible solution to end the environmental crisis. The significance of the dissertation is to arouse human being’s ecological consciousness and adjust people’s attitude toward nature, human and self.