An Ecofeminist Interpretation of Wordsworth’s ‘Tintern Abbey’ and ‘Lucy poems’

Abstract

Ecofeminism emerged as a theoretical movement in the last decade of the 20th century. It is not simply a movement; it is an ideology that discusses the fundamental issues and principles of ecology and feminism together and sometimes challenge each other. Throughout the ages both Women and Nature have experienced oppression and domination within patriarchal hegemony and this is what the ecofeminists want to trace out in literary and cultural practices. This article proposes to interpret Wordsworth’s ‘Tintern Abbey’ and ‘Lucy Poems’ from the perspectives of ecofeminism. Wordsworth is widely recognised as the greatest worshipper of Nature, to whom Nature is the breath and finer spirit, throbbing and pulsating of his heart. Being a foremost Romantic poet, he not only takes Nature as a vehicle to his imaginative faculty but also represents Nature in androcentric ways. In ‘Tintern Abbey’, Nature is a care-giver; she offers services to Wordsworth, the Man but in reply, he does not give her much prominence except reminding his sister who is also a passive listener. In ‘Lucy Poems’, Lucy is either dead or silenced or projected as inferior being struck with poverty and pestilence. Ecofeminism which has been the centre of attraction opens up a new vista to represent literature. The traditional interpretation of Nature in Wordsworth’s poetry requires critical attention that he was not always sympathetic to Nature and did not completely shake off the masculine identity.