From Craving To Pursuing:Interpretation Of The Golden Notebook From The Perspective Of Ecofeminism

With the development of modern industry,human living environment is getting worse gradually in modern society,severely threatening human survival and the harmony with nature.Women in the patriarchal society,who are closely connected with nature,also become the victims of patriarchal oppression.Men's dominance over women and nature hinders the realization of gender equality and the construction of an ecologically harmonious society.The emergence of ecofeminism provides viable solutions to the realization of ecological harmony and gender equality.Doris Lessing enjoys great popularity in the British and the world literary circle as well.In The Golden Notebook,Lessing tries to find out possible solutions to women's living plight through the exploration of women's pursuit of freedom.Besides,this work also contains abundant depictions of the relationship between human and nature,which reflects Lessing's thoughts and concerns about nature.In this sense,this book clearly reveals Lessing's ecofeminist awareness.Ecofeminism plays a pivotal role with a far-reaching impact in trying to criticize the patriarchal culture,to advocate gender equality and to promote environmental protection.This thesis intends to analyze women's psychological development from craving for equality with nature and their sexual relationship to pursuing self-identity and harmony for all beings,thus uncovering Lessing's ecofeminist consciousness and her unique thoughts about the conflicts between human and nature,and between women and men.On a closer examination,this thesis endeavors to present Lessing's unique meditation over its root causes of the conflicts and the realization of the harmony between women and men,and between human and nature.Based on this,the thesis is composed of the following four parts:The first part introduces Doris Lessing,The Golden Notebook and its latest research results at home and abroad.This part also makes a brief introduction to ecofeminist literary criticism and points out the significance of this research.The second part of this thesis analyzes the kinship between woman and nature and how men's destruction of nature arouses women's craving for equality with nature and its disillusionment.The third part analyzes women's craving for men and their disillusionment as a result of loss of paternal love and equal sexual relationship.In the last part,through analyzing women's pursuit of self-identity and harmony,this thesis reveals Lessing's unique thoughts and views about human and nature and gender relationship and her viable way to realize the harmony between all beings.Admittedly,The Golden Notebook does belong to the ecofeminist canon but it is equally a masterpiece which delves into the psychological development of the women as a human being.By presenting the female psychological development in The Golden Notebook in the light of ecofeminism,this thesis hopes to shed a revealing light on the literary research into its text and the ecofeminist literary criticism.