| Doris Lessing(1919-2013),the Nobel Prize Winner for Literature in 2007,is one of the most famous and most remarkable female writers of the literary world in recent 20 years.Her works show her deep concern about the state of human existence.The problems disclosed in her works,such as colonialism,gender conflict,racism and female psychology,still trouble us today.Many of her works,like The Grass is Singing,The Golden Notebook,Love Again,have been studied from various perspectives by critics.However,her later work On Cats,published in 2002,is relatively ignored.The plunder of natural resources is becoming grave with the scientific and technological development in recent years.Human beings pursue economic and material benefits,agricultural and industrial development at the expense of the environment,so that the ecological problems become worse and worse.Ecocriticism,as a kind of new theory of literary criticism,has attracted great attention since the 1970 s.With the ecological problems still worsening,it is of practical significance to analyze On Cats and Lessing’s ecological awareness from the perspective of ecocriticism.This thesis intends to interpret On Cats from the angle of ecocriticism.Based on the ecocritical theories of the Chinese scholar Lu Shuyuan and some other scholars,this thesis analyzes the loss of harmony according to natural ecology,social ecology and spiritual ecology in On Cats,and further investigates the relationship between man and nature,man and other man,man and society,as well as man and himself.Through the ecocritical interpretation,man can further recognize the significance of building harmonious relationships in natural ecology,social ecology and spiritual ecology.Lessing thinks that people should respect animals,protect plants and cherish natural resources;that people care for their family and help others;that they love themselves.This thesis is divided into five parts.The introduction first gives a brief summary of Lessing and On Cats,and then presents the literature review at home and abroad.Finally,it narrates the theory of ecocriticism and the significance of this thesis.Chapter One is the loss of harmony according to natural ecology in On Cats.The disharmony between man and nature is expressed through the analysis of human beings’ domination and destruction of animals,and their conquest and plunder of plants.Moreover,it also analyzes human beings’ efforts for the recovery of harmony between man and nature.From the above analysis,it can be seen that the narrator’s attitude towards cats is changing.Lessing criticizes the idea of anthropocentrism and advocates that animals and plants are friends of human beings.They should stop performing disastrous invasion and plundering.Chapter Two is the loss of harmony according to social ecology in On Cats.It analyzes the alienated relationship between man and other man,the inequality and indifference of society.Lessing criticizes human indifference to their family as well as other men and their abnormal closeness to animals,which shows the crisis of confidence between man and other man.Chapter Three is the loss of harmony according to spiritual ecology in On Cats.It mainly talks about the absence of belief and expansion of evil human desires,which reveals the spiritual crisis man confronts nowadays.People should get their belief,which is the ability of love,back so as to reach self-harmony and love other men as well as nature.The last part is the conclusion.The author calls on man to find out their right position in the relationship between man and the environment to construct a harmonious world.Man should try to get back their charm—the ability of love—and learn to give and share to realize the harmony in the inner world. |
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