An Eco-feminist Interpretation Of Lives Of Girls And Women

Ecofeminism is a kind of new theory, which combines feminism and ecocriticism. Ecofeminists believe that there is a powerful affinity between nature and women, considering that the patriarchal society’s domination is related with the oppression of nature and women. They think that both of the nature and women are victims. In other words, patriarchy is the root cause of the oppression of women and nature. Anthropocentrism and male centralism are the forms of patriarchy. Ecofeminists call on reconstructing a harmonious society with the principles of feminism and ecology, where nature can break away from depredation and women can get complete liberation.The famous contemporary short-story writer Alice Munro from Canada is considered as one of the most influential fiction writers all over the world. She writes in her works about the daily life of ordinary women along with lots of scenery description. Lives of Girls and Women was written by Munro in the year of 1971. In this work, Ecofeminism consciousness is reflected. As Munro’s early work, it caused attention of many scholars and critics, attracting them to interpret it from different aspects. This thesis attempts to interpret the text from the aspect of Ecofeminism consciousness. Munro’s view of Ecofeminism will be analyzed from the female images embodied in Lives of Girls and Women and the ecological study.This thesis consists of an introduction, the main body and a conclusion. Its main contents are as follows:The first part is introduction, which mainly makes a brief introduction of foreign and domestic research overview of ecological feminism. Ecofeminism originates in France, and develops in the United States, Britain and other western countries. Therefore, compared with the domestic research overview, the foreign research overview is much more thorough and complete. In our country, the focus of Ecofeminism research mainly concentrates in: a clear concept of Ecofeminism, the review and comparison of Ecofeminism schools, the content of Ecofeminism and interdisciplinary comparison.The second part is the main body, which is made up of three chapters:Chapter One mainly introduces the theory of Ecofeminism, which includes three parts: the origin of Ecofeminism, the schools of Ecofeminism and Munro’s special viewpoint of Ecofeminism. Ecofeminism is a thought movement, which is a combination of feminism and ecocriticism that raised by Francoise Faubonne from France. Along with the ecological problems, a large-scale of ecological movements broke out. People began to reflect the Anthropocentrism and male centralism to provide a new way for the liberation of women and the protection of environment. As a result, Ecofeminism came into being. For Munro, it has special significance to her. She breaks through the traditional gender restrictions, using male image to convey Ecofeminism, which is more convincing. It expresses her strong expectation and desire to reconstruct a harmonious society where people can live along with others and people can be in harmonious relationship with nature.Chapter Two discusses the female image of Lives of Girls and Women, including the image of Uncle Benny, Della’s aunts, Della’s mother and Della herself. Although Uncle Benny is a man, he shows the female characteristics, which is reflected by his love for nature and animals. He is kind and kind-hearted. Della’s aunts who are influenced by the male-dominated society, they are conservative and don’t accept new ideas or thoughts. Della’s mother who is brave to pursue knowledge awakens herself in the patriarchal society. She fails under the social oppression. From the childhood to the adulthood, Della develops her own social cognition, which distains the patriarchy and struggles for the rights of women. These four images expose miserable lives of women in the patriarchal society. The oppression of women indicates the widespread tendency of male chauvinism. However, facing the rule and oppression, women are brave enough to struggle and pursue freedom, which also indicates women’s strong dissatisfaction with the patriarchal society and strong desire for independence.Chapter Three discusses the work Lives of Girls and Women from the perspective of ecology. First, Uncle Benny’s affinity with nature is introduced, which shows a picture of harmonious relationship between human and nature. Then, the relationship between Della and nature is discussed. Della loves nature very much. Facing with people’s cruel oppression and exploitation, she feels sad and she hopes to have a society where human and nature can help each other with mutual equality and harmony. The favorable relationship between women and nature lies on their similar status-being oppressed. Women find comfort and security from nature in order to escape from the patriarchal society.The last part is conclusion. This part mainly discusses the significance of interpreting Lives of Girls and Women from the Ecofeminism perspective. Ecological feminism is a global phenomenon, which makes people pay attention to the relationship between women and nature in terms of being oppressed and makes such relationship being fully understood. Ecological feminists try to change the social and political order which enhances the oppression of human. The order is embodied in activities destroying ecology. I believe that people will get some beneficial conclusions and revelations of the current human and social development in the process of study and exploration.