A Study Of My (?)ntonia From The Perspective Of Ecofeminism

Willa Cather is one of the important female writers in American literary history and her works are studied by many literary critics and scholars.Because of Cather's growth experience in the west,most of her novels root in the background of the mid-west American prairie,and depict the stories of the pioneers in the late 1800s and early 1900s emphatically.My (?)ntonia is Cather's most important novel,and it is considered to be her masterpiece.Usually,it is the first novel which is chosen to get to know about Cather by most readers.Up to now,the studies of Cather's works are mostly concentrated on the contents of narrative methods,feminism,language styles,land ethics,and post-colonial research.Along with the development and fusion of the ecological theory and feminist theory,the ecofeminist theory,which became a literary researching method in 1990s,has been used more and more frequently in analyzing Cather's works.Because there are less researches on the ecofeminist consciousness embodied in My (?)ntonia,this thesis analyzes the novel in a few layers intensively from the perspective of ecofeminism.There are five sections in this thesis:the introduction,chapter one to three,and the conclusion.The introduction firstly introduces the biography of Cather and her works briefly.Then it states briefly the history and current situation of Cather research aboard and domestically.Furthermore,this section introduced the sum and substance of the ecofeminist theory.Chapter one concentrates on the relationship between human and nature.Firstly,it emphatically analyzes the common points between women and nature,and women's growth and improvement in the background of nature by getting strength and power form it.Secondly,it researches the relationship between men and nature.Under the influence of anthropocentrism,men always devalue nature significantly and make it inferior to them.They exploit nature immoderately until the negative consequences come out.Chapter two discusses the relationship between men and women.Firstly,the thesis focuses on the attitudes of men towards women.Under the ideology of androcentrism,men dominate and oppress women in the same way that they oppress nature.Further on,the thesis analyzes the interrelationship of men's attitudes towards women and nature.To some extent,the oppression men implement upon women and nature causes the ecological and social disharmony on this planet.Secondly,through researching the stories of (?)ntonia,Lena Lingard and Tiny Soderball,the thesis strives to reveal the conflict and rebellion between women and men in the patriarchal society.In chapter three,through researching (?)ntonia and Jim's lives after twenty years,it strives to reveal the essence of the harmony between human and nature.By constructing the intimate connection and interaction with nature,and developing the mutual respect and consideration between men and women,the harmonious relationship between human and nature will be attained finally in the world.The last section is the conclusion.Through the extensive arguments,the thesis claims that Willa Cather is an author who has profound ecofeminist consciousness and foreseeability.Her masterpiece My (?)ntonia is a great work which reveals her ecofeminist consciousness utterly.Cather proposes her ecofeminist standpoint,that is women and nature have natural common points.In order to obtain a harmonious world,human must eliminate the gender discrimination and oppression,and stop the exploitation upon nature.Finally,the harmony between men and women,and human and nature will be attained.