The Steinbeck Ecofeminism Thought

The term'ecofeminism'or'eco-feminism'is a combination of feminism and the ecological movement, which was coined by the French writer Francoise d'Eaubonne in 1970s and aroused a lot of attention in 1990s. Ecofeminism is a pluralistic theory and based on the association between the patriarchal society's oppression of women and its domination of nature, both of which are the victims of the patriarchal society. It aims to liberate all practices of domination within culture: racism, gender discrimination, class oppression, and the exploitation of the nature.This thesis analyses the images of women and nature in such works as Grapes of Wrath(1939), the Chrysanthemum(1938), East of Eden(1952), Travel with Charley in Search of America(1962)by means of additive process and integration approach from the perspective of eco-feminism. This thesis attempts to analyze and classify the women characters and their fates, trying to find the root causes of their tragic fates. It also analyses the description of natural scenery in his works and points out the reasons of the exploitation of nature and women, criticizing anthropocentrism and dualistic thinking modes which result in patriarchal society. The author also urges people to rebuild a harmonious world between human and nature by means of feminism and integral ecological principle.