Abstract: Doris Lessing is a prestigious and prominent British female writer in 20th century who enjoys global fame for her wide range of literary perspectives and prolific works. The publication of her first novel The Grass Is Singing helps her gain a tremendous amount of reputation and praise worldwide. This novel depicts the destructive exploitation of the land as well as the tragic fate of blacks and women in South Africa under the patriarchy. This paper attempts to analyze the oppression of humans on nature, the domination of men over women, the discrimination among different races as well as the inequality amid various classes by adapting the eco-feminism theory from individual, natural and social perspectives to illustrate the indispensable role of the construction of a harmonious society.

Key words: eco-feminism; nature; women; races; classes

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Eco-feminism and Lessing’s Eco-feminism Awareness-2

2.1 The Emergence and Development of Eco-feminism-2

2.2The Main Classifications of Eco-feminism-3

2.3 Lessing’ Awareness of Eco-feminism-4

3. Oppressions on Nature and Women in The Grass Is Singing-6

3.1 Men’s Destruction of Nature-6

3.1.1 Charlie Slater’s Ruthless Use of the Farmland-6

3.1.2 Dick Turner’s Exploitation of Nature as The other-8

3.1.3 Nature’s Revenge on Human-9

3.2 Men’s Domination over Women-10

3.2.1 Oppressions from Father-10

3.2.2 Repressions from Husband-11

3.2.3 Suppressions from Lover-12

3.2.4 Women’ Challenge of Men-13

3.3The Establishment of Harmony in South Africa-14

4. Inequality between Races and Amid Classes in The Grass Is Singing-15

4.1Whites’ Oppressions of Blacks-15

4.1.1 White Government’s Hegemony in Africa-15

4.1.2 White Individuals’ Discrimination against Black Natives-17

4.1.3 Blacks’ Resistance to Whites-18

4.2The Rich’s Bias against the Poor in the White Society-19

4.2.1 Charlie Slater’s Hypocrisy towards Dick Turner-19

4.2.2 Other Whites’ Indifference to Dick Turner-20

4.2.3 The Poor’s Rejection to the Rich-21

4.3 The Establishment of Unity in South Africa-22

5. Conclusion-23

References-25