An Eco-feminist Interpretation Of Women Survival Dilemmas In The Tree Of Man

Patrick Victor Martindale White?s(hereafter shortened as Patrick White)is the first Australian novelist who has won the Nobel Prize in Literature.Published in 1955,The Tree of Man laid the foundation for this prize.In this novel,Patrick White depicts the life changes of more than 50 female characters across three generations and the survival dilemmas of women characters are reflected on these life changes.Guided by Val Plumwood?s eco-feminist thoughts,combined with the deceptions of male dominations in this novel,this thesis intends to study the women survival dilemmas in material,spirit and identity and at the same time to explore the way to break the dominance of the Master and to find a way to get rid of the dilemmas.This thesis consists of six chapters.The first chapter introduces the author Patrick White and his novel The Tree of Man,and concludes the current studies of the novel.The second chapter elaborates on the development of eco-feminism and gives an overview of Val Plumwood?s thoughts of the Master identity.It also explains the relationship between The Tree of Man and Val Plumwood?s eco-feminism.The third chapter,based on the three deceptions of the Master,taking Amy,Mrs.Gage and Thelma as examples,illustrates the material,spiritual and identity dilemmas faced by the women characters in the novel.The fourth chapter,based on the dualistic logic of the Master,analyzes the reasons for survival dilemmas of women characters from the perspective of radical exclusion,backgrounding and homogenisation.The fifth chapter discusses the efforts of women characters to get rid of the survival dilemmas.It also makes some tentative suggestions to be out of women survival dilemmas.The sixth chapter concludes the thesis and reflects on the limitations.Through the analyses of women survival dilemmas in the novel,this thesis holds that when facing these dilemmas,to get rid of the “other” identities and regain the subjectivities,women characters have to eliminate the deception of the Master identity that represents anthropocentrism and androcentrism.At the same time a harmonious relationship between human and nature,between both sexes and between man and himself can be achieved through the elimination of the Master identity.