An Ecofeminist Interpretation Of A Room With A View

E.M.Forster,as an eminent novelist,essayist and literary critic of Britain,played an important role in the British literary arena in the 20~thh century.A room with a view is one of Forster’s Italian novels,which is favored by many readers and scholars for its light-hearted and romantic love story.As a cross-century writer,Forster witnessed the turbulence in the late Victorian and early Edwardian British society,as well as the ecological crisis and the human spiritual crisis brought by the modern industrial civilization.Based on these,most of Forster’s novels involve his thoughts about humanity and the relations between human and nature,human and human,and man and woman.A Room with a View is of no exception.For a long time,most interpretations of this novel have been based on the aspects of cultural themes,feminist thoughts,travel themes,moral ethics,and artistic skills,etc.Few scholars have studied this novel from the perspective of ecofeminism.At present,women’s issues and the ecological problems have increasingly become the focus of attention.Forster’s“connection view”and his craving for achieving harmonious humanity and establishing the harmonious relations between human and nature,human and human,and man and woman which he expresses in this novel echo with the main ideas of ecofeminism.Therefore,this thesis gives an ecofeminist interpretation of A Room with a View,in order to help Forster readers understand this novel better and cognize his ecofeminist thoughts.This thesis consists of five chapters:Chapter One gives the introduction to Forster’s life experience,the formation of his ecological and feminist thoughts,the theory of ecofeminism,a review of Forster studies,the significance and objectives of the study,as well as the structure of this thesis.Based on the current research status and the theoretical basis,this thesis mainly focuses on the following three questions:1.What kinds of plights do the main characters and nature meet in the English patriarchal society in A Room with a View?2.How does Forster convey his ecofeminist thoughts through the characters’awakening process from plights?3.What is the significance of an ecofeminist interpretation of A Room with a View?Chapter Two analyzes the self-spiritual plights that the male and female characters encounter in the English patriarchal society and the nature’s ecological plights caused by the modern industrial civilization,pointing out that the root of plights is the dualism of the patriarchal culture.Chapter Three explores how the main characters Lucy and the Emersons are closely connected with nature,and how Lucy and George get the awakening power of spirit and love through nature.Chapter Four,in the light of the care ethics of ecofeminism,interprets how the main characters of this novel,through mutual connections,cooperation,respect,care and love,awaken themselves from plights,deconstruct the dualism of patriarchal culture,establish the harmonious relations with each other and with nature,and ultimately achieve harmony in self.Chapter Five makes a conclusion of this thesis and re-emphasizes Forster’s best wishes for constructing a world of“harmony in diversity”.