An Ecofeminist Interpretation Of The Summer Before The Dark

Doris Lessing is a celebrated British female writer.She used to create a number of works with the pseudonym “Jane Somers”.She speaks for women with her unique perspectives,incisive writing styles,as well as simple and delicate description modes,exposing and criticizing many issues in society.The Summer Before the Dark,a full-length novel written in Lessing's middle age,was published in 1973 and it has been widely concerned by the public since its publication.The novel mainly tells a story about a frustrated middle-class housewife who is enlightened and achieves self-redemption after a short journey.Lessing integrates her understanding and suggestions for middle-aged women in the novel and points out a proper way for those women who have been oppressed by men for a long time through Kate's experiences.Domestic and foreign scholars have conducted multi-angle studies on Doris Lessing and her work---The Summer Before the Dark,and achieved corresponding academic achievements.Most of the research results focus on psychoanalysis,narrative theory,image analysis,artistic features and other aspects.Based on the theory of ecofeminism,this paper interprets the complex relationship among nature,women and men of the novel,aiming to deepening readers' understanding about it.This paper mainly consists of three parts,namely,introduction,main body,and conclusion.The introduction summarizes Doris Lessing's life experiences and literary achievements,introducing the main content of The Summer Before the Dark,and analyzing the research status at home and abroad.The first chapter is the theoretical foundation,which combs the origin and development of ecofeminism,and emphasizes three major connotations of it,including female and nature,female and male,male and nature.The following chapters respectively take the three major connotations as the center,making detailed interpretations and analysis.The second chapter discusses the essential and symbolic connections between women and nature,highlighting their internal identities and external similarities.The third chapter interprets the unbalanced relationship between female and male.Firstly,taking Kate,Maureen and Maureen's mother as examples,it discusses the absence of female discourse power and thedistortion of female roles under male authority.Secondly,through discussing Mary,Kate,and Maureen's experiences,it expresses women's resistance to male authority.The fourth chapter analyzes the relationship between male and nature,dissecting the serious destruction of natural resources and natural environment by male.Meanwhile,it proves that nature has revenged to mankind through various disasters and diseases.The conclusion summarizes the main contents of the paper and reiterates the new ideas of ecofeminism,aiming to appeal to human beings to protect nature,eliminate gender discrimination,and establish a harmonious ecological environment,social environment and humanistic environment.