Femininity and Nature in John Fowles" The French Lieutenant"s Woman

파울즈의『프랑스 중위의 여인』에 나타난 여성성과 자연

&nbsp;&nbsp;This paper aims at examining how the &quot;eco-feminism&quot; is shown in John Fowles&quot; The French Lieutenant&quot;s Woman. During the past male-centered authoritarian age until the beginning of 20-century, &quot;eco-feminism&quot; has rarely been discussed because the ideas of development and destruction have dominated the behavior of people. Nevertheless, eco-feminism intends to revamp the dominant traditional male-centered norm as well as the trend of scientific civilization on the basis of creating the new paradigm of &quot;eco-feminism.&quot;<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;The beginning background of The French Lieutenant&quot;s Woman is Lymes bay outstretching toward England&quot;s southwestern leg. The long description of the background shows that the motif of this novel makes an attempt to create the human living together with nature in harmony. Fowles even describes the Lymes bay as an &quot;English Garden of Eden.&quot; In addition to the natural background, the heroine Sarah Woodruff plays an import role regarding to studying femininity. She seems to be ambiguous and mysterious and even raises some questions on whether she is really feminist or tragic woman. Under the 19th century patriarch-centered society, she tries to act against the dominant theory that women is always located under control of the men. In spite of Mrs. Poulteney&quot;s obstinacy and opposition, she feels comfortable by ingoing and outgoing to Ware Commons where women are not allowed to reach. Ware Commons gives her not only a natural asylum but also a kind of liberation emotion away from the authoritarian male-centered society.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;In spite of the authoritarian environment, she tries to oppose the traditional dichotomy that classifies &quot;culture and nature or male and female.&quot; She finds it foolish to put the different concepts into the opposite completely. Even though she has the origin of low-brow, she insists on &quot;the universal parity of existence&quot; that focuses on the importance of individual being together with nature. She has overcome the disgrace of &quot;outcast&quot; colored in Lymes bay, futhermore having a keen power of observation to look for the agreement between human and nature. Finally, she seeks not the ideology of liberation based on feminism theory, but the right universal equality.