Ecofeminist analysis Essays

Ecofeminist analysis Essays Ecofeminist analysis Essay Ecofeminist analysis Essay Before echo-feminism becomes a theory, Lawrence Insists on building harmonious and balanced relationships both between man and nature, and between men and women. Such avocation accords with echo-feminist appeal for eliminating the domination-subordination relationships and building equal and sustainable man- nature, man-woman relationships in the world. Therefore, his works embody echo- feminist characteristics. The study on Lawrence has never been suspending. There are some monographs and articles published overseas that make specific study on Lawrence short stories. For instance, D. H. Lawrence Critical Assessments, which provides a thorough and useful collection of many early reviews of Lawrence works. Noticeably, there is an article Lawrence Second Sun in which the author discusses the two different editions of Sun and points out the theme of the story. Domestically, scholars study Lawrence Sun from different perspectives. Inclined(2010) analyzes the ecological Ideas In the story in hisEcological Interpretation of Lawrence Sun. In the article Pursuing the Summon of NatureSymbols used In Lawrence Sun, Pan Wangle(2012) Interprets the symbolism of the characters and natural scenes In the short story. Wang Lei and Us Yang(2013) analyze the short story from two aspects, that is, the common tragedy of women and nature and womens turning to nature for help in their work Lawrence Sun?from the Perspective of Echo-feminism. In the work On Echo-feminism in Lawrence Short Stories, Wang Yapping(2010) discusses the natural links and similarities between women and nature in three short stories, Sun included. Lawrence has been regarded as the prophet of echo-feminism for he embodies his echo-feminist thoughts throughout his works. Since the echo-feminism has been adopted In some researches on Lawrence other literary works and the related research on his short story Sun Is quite few, It Is meaningful to study Lawrence short stories from such a perspective. This paper will concentrate on Interpreting Lawrence Sun from the echo-feminist point of view. It will try to Illustrate Lawrence attitudes towards man-nature and women-men relationships. In this way, it aims to prove his echo-feminist consciousness in the Sun. Specifically, his echo- feminist thoughts will be interpreted in terms of the symbolic links between sun and Juliet?the heroin; the integration of Juliet and sun; Gullets awakening with the help of sun; and Gullets rebel against the patriarchal society. It can be seen from the interpretation that Lawrence embodies his echo-feminist thoughts in the Sun and he is the prophet of echo-feminism. 1. 1 A Brief Introduction to Echo-feminism Echo-feminism emerged in the sass and got flourished in the sass. The term of echo- feminism was first coined by French feminist Francoise debauching in 1974. Based upon the development of ecology and feminism, coffee-monism represents the first union of the two theories. Echo-feminism connects the exploitation and domination of women with that of the environment, and argues that there is a connection between women and nature. Echo-feminists advocates building harmonious and sustainable relationships in the universe, both between man and nature, and between men and women. In order to protect both women and nature, echo-feminists devote themselves to overthrowing the oppressive conceptual framework (Warren 46), which is the dualistic system of patriarchy. Moreover, echo-feminists believe that nature and women are closely connected with each other. In the patriarchal society, women and tauter are enduring the same unequal treatment because of their marginal position. Therefore, echo-feminists insist on the unity of nature and women when it comes to problems of the ecological crisis and feminist liberation. 1. 2 Lawrence: the Prophet of Echo-feminism Lawrence is considered as a prophet of echo-feminism. On the one hand, he attempted to criticize the industrial civilization in a bitter way. He believed it was the civilization that had damaged the nature, the social relations and peoples spiritual mind; therefore, human beings should get away from civilization. On the other hand, e appreciated highly the natural scenes which brought vitality back to human beings. The harmonious and vigorous state in nature made a sharp contrast with the oppressed and dull industrial society. Lawrence held completely negative attitudes towards civilization and called upon man to return to nature. Besides, Lawrence has always pondered over woman-nature relationships. He shows a great sympathy towards both nature and women because they suffered a lot from the patriarchal society. The thoughts revealed in Lawrence works correspond with echo-feminism, such as the links between women and nature, the oneness of women and nature, omens awakening with the help of nature. Similar to echo-feminists, he rebels against the patriarchal society for its domination imposed upon women and nature. In his works, he advocates the freedom and equal rights of women and nature to rebel against the patriarchal industrial society. For Lawrence, his ultimate goal is to feminist features. It makes him a prophet for echo-feminism. II An Echo-feminist Interpretation of Women-Nature Relationship in the Sun 2. . The Symbolic Links between Juliet and Sun Nature and woman are symbolically connected with each other. Susan Griffin, in her kook Women and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her, states the fundamental views about the symbolic links between nature and women. He says that woman talks with nature; that she can hear voice from the earth; that wind blows and the tree whisper to her; that th e dead speak by her mouth and the cries of infants, they are so clear to her(12). In the short story Sun, Lawrence presented the symbolic links between sun and the heroine specifically and vividly. The heroine, Juliet, had lived in New York for a long time and suffered from depression. The doctor suggested that she should take sun bath on Sicily, a sunny Italian island. Juliet, along with her son and mother, left her husband Maurice and got rid of the bustling industrial world. At the beginning of the story, Juliet was skeptical about the sunbathing therapy. Her attitude towards the sun was passive because she did not believe it would cure or even benefit her. However, when she saw the naked sun rising from the sea-level, a mysterious impulsion stirred up in her inner world. She wanted to go to the sun, nakedly. So the desire sprang secretly in her, to be naked to the sun. She cherished her desire like a secret. She wanted to come together with the sun (425). After taking sunbathing overall times, she realized that it was not Just taking sun-baths. It was more than that. Something deep inside her unfolded and relaxed, which gave her a cosmic influence. She was put into connection with the sun, and the stream flowed of itself, from her womb. She herself, her conscious self, was secondary, a secondary person, almost an onlooker. 431) Juliet established intimate relationship with the sun and she regarded it as her rescuer and lover. When Juliet referred to the sun, she would use the personal pronoun he instead of it. And he was full and naked. And she wanted to come to him (425). In her mind, she regarded the sun as an energetic and vigorous man. The definite article the was omitted from the title of the short story, implying that the sun was personified as a man, a superman. Thus, the intimate relationship between her and sun embodies womens symbolic links with the nature. 2. 2. The Integration of Juliet and Sun In the prologue of Susan Griffins book, Women and Nature: The Roaring inside Her, she writes: We know that our selves are composed by earth, and the earth itself is constituted by our bodies, because we understand ourselves. We are nature; we are the nature understanding nature. We are the nature have a natural view. Nature is crying, saying to itself(1 1). It can be seen from this epic-like poem that women can understand nature, integrate with nature and be nature. In the story Sun, the integrating process of the sun and heroin was gradually presented. Bathing in the sun became Gullets private rite in which she dated with her lover. Juliet, like an exhausted goddess, needed to have a rest under the sun to regain the energy. She chose a powerful cypress tree as her sun bathing site. She sat under the tree, took off all the clothes and enjoyed the sun-bathing. During the first several times she felt embarrassed: She sat and offered her bosom to the sun, sighing, even now, with a certain hard pain, against the cruelty of having to give herself (426). Besides, she could not feel the sun. However, she began to feel the warmth of the sunshine. She felt the sun inside them, warmer that ever love had been, warmer than milk or the hands of her baby'(426). Whats more, the sun was generous and tolerant. He did not mind Gullets unwilling attitude towards him. He faced down to her with blue body of fire, and enveloped her breasts and her face, her throat, her tired belly, her knees, her thighs and her feet( 426). The flame of the sun had the po wer to revive ones body and soul. She could feel the sun penetrating even into her bones; nay, farther, even into her emotions, her thoughts (426). At this moment, she became integrated with the sun physically. With the development of the story, she was integrated with nature mentally. She began to communicate with the sun. The depressed emotions began to disappear and the cold dark clots of her thoughts began to dissolve in her heart. Her weary, chilled heart was melting, and in melting, evaporating (426). She gradually regained the holy power of the sun and came to life. In the chapter three of the story, there was an episode when Juliet and her son met the snake. To readers surprise, Juliet was not afraid of the frightening creature and was very calm. Some stillness of the sun in her reassured him (432). The reason why she appeared still towards the snake was that she considered the snake as their friend, a part of the nature. The curious careless power of the sun filled her, filled the whole place like a observed that Juliet understood that she was a part of nature and she loved every other part of nature. 2. 3. Womens Awakening with the Help of Nature Michael L. Ross points out in his article Lawrence second Suncollected in the D. H. Lawrence Critical Assessments that: Lawrence endeavors to achieve a definitive fictional statement of one of his essential themes: the reawakening of a womans vital self(457). Lawrence believes that the sun has the power to reach old roots of human consciousness and the depth of souls that man knows nothing of. It has the holy power to cure human beings and to give them a new life. In the second chapter of the story, Lawrence described the sun-bathing process in details. When Juliet noticed re rosy body turned to gold, she realized that she became another person. She was like another person. She was another person (429). She became healthier and more beautiful and began to appreciate her body. The strong sense of being a woman flooded through her body. Her tensed womb was slowly unfolding, like a lily bud under water, as the sun mysteriously touched it And it was slowly rising to the sun, to expand at last, to the sun, only to the sun (428). Besides, the sun helped Juliet find her true self. When she was in New York, she was unable to feel anything real, with all her anger and frustration inside her. However, facing to the sun, she showed her nature as a woman. A tacit understanding between her and her lover had been achieved: with her knowledge of the sun, and her conviction that the sun was gradually penetrating her to know her (428). Juliet became detached and superior. She was another woman, contemptuous of those people who were UN-sunned, like grave-yard worms (428). Finally, the sun chased the passive emotions out from Gullets inner world and cured her, thus, Juliet changed her view on the surroundings. Before she arrived at the island, its a big torment for her to take care of her son. It dad her feel that the child was irritating her and preying on her peace of mind. However, she changed her attitude towards her son after taking sun-bath. When her son came to her and calling in peculiar bird-like little anguish of want, she was surprised that her heart felt none of the anxious love-tension in return. All in all, the sun had the power to rescue Juliet. The vitality and dignity of life came back to Juliet, rescued by the sun: he could shine on a million people, and still be the radiant, splendid, unique sun, focused on her alone (428). Lawrence took the sun as the redeemer of this dispirited world. Ill. An Echo-feminist Interpretation of Men-Women Relationship 3. 1 Gullets Rebel against His Husband one another bitterly. She could not endure the monotonous life in the apartment in New York with her husband, so she accepted the advice of sunbathing, which was an action of escape. They were hostile to each other, like two engines running at variance, they shattered one another (424). It can be seen from the description that they were in an unhappy marriage and they might quarrel or even fight with each other. He was thinking of her in New York flat, pale, silent, oppressing him terribly. He was he soul of gentle timidity, in his human relations, and her silent, awful hostility after the baby was born, had frightened him deeply. 439) Gullets oppressive silence in the New York flat was her soundless rebel against the dull life. She regarded her husband, the new born baby and the urban environment as the root of the depression. The responsibility to take care of the family members haunted her all the time, hindering her aspirations towards freedom and nature. When her husband went to Sicily to look at her , she boldly told her husband that she would not come back to New York. l cant go back; I cant go back on this sun (439). Faced with her wifes resolution and independence, Maurice agreed: This kind of thing suits you. You are splendid. No, I dont think you can go back (439). The requirements show her rebel against the patriarchal society, her determination to get rid of the oppressed self. 3. 2 Passion between Juliet and the Sun Man In the story, the author depicted a sun man?the Italian peasant. The peasants appearance was in a sharp contrast to Americas in the short story. The peasant had a broad red face instead of a pale one. His hair was full of the cleanliness of health, different from the black-and-grey hair of Maurice. After taking sunbathing and encountering with the sun man, Juliet was hopelessly in love with him. When she first met with the peasant, there was a fire him which burned her all through the body. Then his eyes met hers, and she felt the blue fire running through her limbs to her womb, which was spreading in the helpless ecstasy. Still they looked into each others eyes, and the fire flowed between them, like the blue, streaming fire from the heart of the sun. (433) The word fire was used three times in the above quotation. The peasant was the origin of the fire, igniting Juliet and spreading into her. Gullets desire was aroused in this real world by a real man. She found out the passion in herself and wanted to be involved with the peasant who was the symbol of the sun in Gullets chilly world. If falling in love with the sun in the heaven was Just Gullets fantasy, the Italian peasant was not Just her imagination. She even imagined having the peasants baby. Juliet thought: Why shouldnt I go to him! Why shouldnt bear his child? It would be like bearing a child to the unconscious sun and the unconscious earth, a child like a peasant, but also her rebel against the patriarchal society. Conclusion In Lawrence short stories, the natural scenes exert a positive influence to human beings. Man could be cured or saved physically and mentally with their help. They could scatter away depressions and frustrations, such as the sun in the short story Sun. The heroine Juliet regained vigor and power after taking sunbathing. Those who seldom kept in touch with the sun were lifeless, gloomy and depressed, making a sharp contrast with those lived in nature. Gullets husband and the peasant in the island were the most apparent contrast. Besides, Lawrence endows natural scenes with mans characteristics. He believed that man could gain harmony, energy and vitality from those natural elements. In the story, the sun acted as a gentle and masculine lover, communicating with the heroine Juliet by radiating his warmth and driving away depressive feelings inside her. By taking sunbathing, Juliet became another person and found out the real meaning of life. In the story, the sun had been personified to rescue human beings. He was tolerate, charming and considerate; more importantly, he was masculine, inspiring Gullets sexual desire. The sun in the short story enjoys equal status with human beings and it has been personified. It caches the heroins deepest consciousness, brings new vitality to her, and awakens her human instincts and self-awareness. Lawrence has contributed a lot for echo- feminism with a new insight about women-nature relationship. In his literary realm, he advocates a harmonious society in which man and nature, men and women could coexist in a harmonious and healthy way. His thought is ahead of his time with great echo-feminist consciousness.