An Interpretation Of Egdon Heath In The Return Of The Native From The Perspective Of Material Ecocriticism

Thomas Hardy’s portrayal of Egdon Heath in his masterpiece The Return of the Native shows the powerful influence of nature over human beings,and the shaping force of natural environment upon human’s psychological condition and identity.As an indispensable “role” in this novel,Egdon Heath has widely attracted scholars’ attention and has been discussed for quite a long time in the field of literary criticism.The existing research on Egdon Heath mainly focuses on the harmonious or disharmonious relationship between human beings and nature,the personified writing of the heath,its dark and tragic image,just to name a few,while there are few scholars interpret the image of Egdon Heath from the perspective of material ecocriticism.On the basis of previous research results through close reading,this thesis revisits Egdon Heath from the perspective of material ecocriticism to reveal Hardy’s philosophical thinking about the relationship between human beings and nature in a more profound way,and its significance towards the reconstruction of the relationship between material forms and human beings.From the perspective of the material ecocriticism,Egdon Heath in The Return of the Native assumes three dimensions of connotations: material agency,meaning generative power and narrative dynamics.First of all,it has strong power in maintaining its geographical landscape,affecting the dwellers’ way of living,and devouring life forms.The ancient Egdon Heath maintains its eternal appearance with its powerful force,and has impacts on the residents all the time in various aspects.The residents also learn to respect nature through the interaction with it.At the same time,it also has strong devouring force,affecting even determining the characters’ choices and destiny.Secondly,Egdon Heath has the ability to generate meanings as an independent subject,who should be treated without disparity.It is also an ecological system in which various kinds of creatures live and flourish.In addition,it is the root of life nurturing sons and daughters on Egdon Heath and providing them with various essentials and nourishment in both physical and spiritual aspects.Thirdly,Egdon Heath is also a narrator,telling about its historical changes,impacts upon heath dwellers’ life from industrial products then,and heath dwellers’ dependence upon nature from folkloric perspectives.Through analysis,it is concluded that Egdon Heath has great vitality and creativity as human beings to generate meanings and narrate stories in a world of material-semiotic network to influence the existence and development of various forms of living in different ways.Hardy’s philosophical idea towards the equality between material forms and human beings is revealed in this novel from the above three dimensions.The interaction of matter and discourse,nature and culture reflects the vitality and creativity of material Egdon Heath,which has practical significance for reconstructing a new type of relationship between material forms and human beings.