The Ecological Interpretation Of Jennie Gerhardt

Dreiser Theodore was both the outstanding realistic writer and the Pioneer of American naturalism in American literature of 20 th century. His work faithfully described numerous changes in the process of transformation from producers' society to consumers' society in the last 19 th century and the early 20 th century,and analyzed the reason of those changes. Jennie Gerhardt, as the important work of his early fiction, told us a story of Jenny's miserable life who was beautiful and good in a poorer class, and reflected the cruel side of American society. Research on Jennie Gerhardt, mostly focused on the tragic color, and generally interpreted Jenny's miserable fate from the patriarchal culture and consumerism or feminist perspective. However, nobody has carried on systematic interpretation of Jennie Gerhardt from Eco-criticism perspective.With the increasing deterioration of the global ecological crisis, people begin to redefine and rethink the relationship between human and nature, and Eco-criticism, also gradually appeared in academia. Refinement and interpretation the literary classics from Eco-criticism perspective, has become a new study hot spot. This paper will interpreter Jennie Gerhardt from Eco-criticism perspective, under the guidance of the theory of the famous scholar Lu Shuyuan. By analyzing the development and change of natural ecology, social ecology and spiritual ecology in Jennie Gerhardt, I try to excavate the root of ecology crisis ecological view, and arouse introspection on the industrial civilization and attention to the human spiritual world.This paper is made up of introduction, body and conclusion, and the body is divided into three chapters.The introduction mainly introduces the subject source of this study, research at home and abroad about Jennie Gerhardt and research purpose and research significance. The first chapter mainly analyzes Jenny's Eden garden dream was gradually shattering along with the natural ecology crisis, and shows the harmony and conflict between human and nature. The second chapter mainly analyzes the social ecological imbalance under the prevailing of consumerism and dominated by the patriarchal system, and it caused the tense and alienation relationship between people, which mainly displays in the illusion of love, alienation of affection and the unbalanced relationship between the genders. The third chapter mainly analyzes the sublimation and redemption of spiritual wasteland by the author: Jenny become the perfection image of freedom and ideal, the spiritual dilemma of hero and heroine symbolized danger and evil wilderness imagery, and the author analyzed the spirit of redemption taking old Gerhard, Jenny and Lester for instance. The conclusion briefly summarizes the ecological thought and its practical significance reflected by the Jennie Gerhardt.