A Comparative Study Of Themes In Poems By Emily Dickinson And Xi Murong From The Perspective Of Eco-feminism

Emily Dickinson(1830-1886)is a distinguished American poetess in the 19 th century,and is honored together with Walt Whitman in the field of American literature.At the same time,Emily Dickinson is also hailed as “the most outstanding poetess in the west after Sappho”.Emily Dickinson wrote nearly 1800 poems in her whole life,and one third of her poems are related to nature.Xi Murong(1943-),a celebrated poetess in Taiwan,China,mainly composes love poems which are famous for the images of nature.Beloved by Chinese readers,Xi Murong once set off “Xi Murong Fever” in China.As women who lived or live in a patriarchal society and were passionate about nature,both Dickinson and Xi Murong have female consciousness and ecological consciousness.Although a few scholars in China have carried out a comparative study on Emily Dickinson and Xi Murong's poetry,the comparative studies of the poems by these two poetesses from the eco-feminist perspective have not been found in the current literature studies at home and abroad.Therefore,this thesis,from the perspective of eco-feminism,combining Dickinson's and Xi Murong's life backgrounds and their writing career,explores the relationship between women and nature,women and love,women and patriarchal society,and the formation of female consciousness and ecological thought in Dickinson and Xi Murong,comparing their similarities and differences and the causes of their differences.The first part of this thesis is a brief introduction to the life and the works of Emily Dickinson and Xi Murong.The first chapter discusses the domestic and the international research on Dickinson and the domestic study on Xi Murong.The second chapter is the critical approach used in this thesis,that is,the eco-feminist theory,briefly explaining the origin,main points and reasons of using the ecofeminist theory.The third chapter discusses women and nature in the poems.The fourth chapter deals with women and love in the poems.The fifth chapter handleswomen and patriarchal society in the poems.The sixth chapter analyzes the embodiment of eco-feminism in Dickinson's and Xi Murong's poems and the similarities,differences and reasons for the differences.Therefore,this thesis has come to the conclusion as following: Emily Dickinson and Xi Murong are eco-feminists to a certain degree although they live in different countries and different times.They have some similarities and differences at the same time.Both Emily Dickinson and Xi Murong cherish a deep emotion for nature,seeking for the true love in their lifelong time and holding their own attitudes towards the relationship between the male and the female.However,they have different backgrounds and personal experiences,and so they have had some differences in attitudes towards nature,love and patriarchy.In the nature poems,Emily Dickinson appeared conflict in the love of nature.She revealed a deep love for nature but suggested awe for nature because nature sometimes devastated her and mankind.Xi Murong's nature poems imply the pure and frank love for nature and nature to her is perfect.Concerning love,Emily Dickinson stated boldly and directly the love theme in her poem in spite that she never openly expressed her love for any man and hid her love deep in heart for she sometimes feared failure in love.Xi Murong praised love highly which should be pure,sincere and ideal,but some of her love poems suggest a kind of disappointment in juvenile love although she has had a good and praiseworthy marriage.As for the attitude towards patriarchy,Emily Dickinson stated her resistance in a bold and direct way,for she did not believe in God although her grandfather and father were the pious Christians.She stayed unmarried in defiance of the patriarchal world and in worldly vision.Unlike Emily Dickinson,Xi Murong does not think that women must revolt against the patriarchal society for their own liberation and independence.On the contrary,women should be united with men for the construction of a harmonious society.Therefore,she challenges the patriarchy in a mild and gentle manner.