From "Paradise Lost" To "Paradise Regained"

Willa Cather(1873-1947)is a famous female novelist in America in the 20th century.She is the first female writer in the history of the United States to depict the stories of immigrants in the frontier era.In her pioneering novels,countryside and city,nature and industry form the two opposite parts,which shows her yearning for simple life and admiration for pioneering spirit.with her female aesthetics,she is called the"defender of spiritual beauty in the process of material civilization".This thesisr studies ecological narrative in Cather’s prairie trilogy against the frame of Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained.The immigrants leave their motherland and want to settle in Nebraska which is barren and wild.At first they cannot integrate with the natives,so they lose faith and hope.The shadow of patriarchy and colonial policy cause imbalance of relationship between people,man and nature,men and women.The fall of paradise doesn’t subdue the heroines.Finally,Alexander,Antonia and Thea realize the importance of harmonious relationship between man and nature,men and women through the communication with nature.In the process,they realize themselves and have rebirth.They regain faith and rebuild their home through efforts.Thus the spiritual change from paradise lost to paradise regained is achieved.Cather inherits Milton’s framework in the epics but with transcendence in the portrait of female characters.She endows them with pioneering spirit which surpasses contemporary writers by presenting us with a harmonious ecological scenery that man and nature are interdependent and thrive with each other.With the increasingly serious environmental problems,biotic community consciousness in Catheter’s prairie trilogy is meaningful for humans to strengthen environment protection and construct harmonious society.The contemporary warnings are expressed as follows:in order to achieve harmonious relationship between man and nature,we should strengthen protection of natural ecology and construct ecological civilization to promote sustainable development of human society.Moreover,we should oppose patriarchy to promote gender harmony and the construction of harmonious society and world.