An Ecofeminist Study of Alice Walker: The Color Purple

Abstract

This paper describes the contribution of Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple to the seminal ideas of ecological conscience and environmental protection, using schemes that intertwine ecocriticism with feminist criticism. The methodology involves the discourses on the images of women and nature in The Color Purple, the association between the oppression of women and the exploitation of nature by male dominance, enslaving the female and nature in the commercial market. Through an ecofeminist lens, this paper finds that Alice Walker infuses her novel with a theme of feminine and natural liberation from domination and violence. Alice Walker foresees the establishment of symbiosis, in which there is no male oppression or environment exploitation.

Keywords: domination, ecofeminism, ecological conscience, male oppression, interconnectedness.