Ecofeminism: The Portrayal of Women and Nature in a Passage to India

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the types of female characters in A Passage to India by E.M. Forster and reveal how nature can emerge from females' self-consciousness in the novel. With an analytic-descriptive method, this article reveals female characters’ types and how women and nature link each other to emerge their self-consciousness. There are three types of female characters in the novel. They are stubborn and arrogant ladies represented by the British officers' wives, a warm-hearted and kind lady represented by Mrs. Moore, and a knowledgeable and enlightened young lady. Emerging the echoes in Marabar cave as one of the main triggers of incidents in the novel, Forster is trying to connect nature to awaken the main female characters' self-conscious. It deals with ecofeminism in which women and nature cannot be separated. Mrs. Moore was excited to reevaluate social norms and interpersonal interactions while facing the natural mounds that represent the immensity of the cosmos. Meanwhile, Adela had developed into a true person. Adela's feminine consciousness was awakened by echoes of nature, allowing her to finally complete the tough transition from adolescence to adulthood. In his novel, Forster exposed Britain`s failures and planned to find possible ways to transform the underdeveloped mind into the developed one, successfully creating and portraying female characters.
Keywords: Ecofeminism, Female self-consciousness