Patriarchal Power and Nature: An Eco-Feministic Study of Sara Macdonald’s In a Kingdom by the Sea
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63283/IRJ.03.04/58Keywords:
Ecofeminism, Feminism and Ecology, Sara MacDonald, In a Kingdom by the Sea, Patriarchy, Karen J. Warren, Women and Nature, Environmental Exploitation, Gender Oppression, Literary Eco-CriticismAbstract
Using the theoretical framework of ecofeminism, this article examines the intersection of feminism and ecology in Sara MacDonald’s novel In a Kingdom by the Sea. The study explores how the novel critiques patriarchal power structures by portraying women’s lived experiences and their relationship with the natural environment. Drawing on Karen J. Warren’s ecofeminist theory, the analysis highlights the parallel processes through which women are marginalized and nature is exploited within patriarchal societies. The article emphasizes how MacDonald’s narrative resists systems of domination and challenges hierarchical dualisms such as man/woman and nature/culture. By deconstructing these binaries, the novel reveals the interconnected oppression of women and the environment. The study argues that In a Kingdom by the Sea presents an ecofeminist vision that promotes harmony, care, and ethical responsibility toward both women and nature.
Ultimately, the article demonstrates that MacDonald’s work not only critiques gender-based and ecological injustices but also offers an alternative perspective that foregrounds mutual respect, sustainability, and interconnectedness. Through an ecofeminist lens, the novel emerges as a powerful literary response to contemporary social and environmental concerns.
References
Alaimo, S. (2010). Bodily natures: Science, environment, and the material self. Indiana University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2979/6079.0
Alaimo, S. (2010). The naked word: The trans-corporeal ethics of the protesting body. Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory, 20(1), 15-36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07407701003589253
Coric, D. (2013). About ecofeminism (as a Part of Environmental Ethics). Zbornik radova, 47,293. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5937/zrpfns47-5142
Derzelle, I. (2021). Françoise d’Eaubonne’s Ecofeminism.
Gaard, G. (2010). Strategies for a cross-cultural ecofeminist literary criticism. Ecozon@: European Journal of Literature, Culture and Environment, 1(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.37536/ECOZONA.2010.1.1.319
Gaard, G. C., & Murphy, P. D. (1998). Ecofeminist literary criticism: Theory, interpretation, pedagogy (Vol. 13). University of Illinois Press.
King, Y., & Plant, J. (1989). The ecology of feminism and the feminism of ecology. Environmentalism: Critical Concepts, 2, 18-28.
Khanduja, G. (2017). Prakriti and shakti: An ecofeminist perspective. Jindal Journal of Public Policy, 3(1), 105-114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54945/jjpp.v3i1.120
Krishna, N. R., & Jha, P. (2014). Ecofeminism in the novels of Sarah Joseph and Anita Nair. International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature, 2(7), 103-109.
Macdonald, S. (2019). In a Kingdom by the Sea.
Merchant, C. (1980). The death of nature: Women, ecology, and the scientific revolution.
Mies, M. (2014). Patriarchy and accumulation on a world scale: Women in the international division of labour. Bloomsbury Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350221703
Mies, M., & Shiva, V. (1993). Ecofeminism. Zed books. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350219786
Plumwood, V. (1986). Ecofeminism: An overview and discussion of positions and arguments. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 64(sup1), 120-138. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00048402.1986.9755430
Plumwood, V. (2002). Feminism and the Mastery of Nature. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203006757
Salleh, A. (1993). Class, race, and gender discourse in the ecofeminism/deep ecology debate. Environmental ethics, 15(3), 225-244. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics199315317
Salleh, A. (2017). Ecofeminism as politics: Nature, Marx and the postmodern. Zed Books Ltd. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350219793
Warren, K. (2000). Ecofeminist philosophy: A western perspective on what it is and why it matters. Rowman & Littlefield.
Warren, K. (1993). Introduction to ecofeminism. Environmental philosophy: From animal rights to radical ecology, 253-267.
Warren, K., & Erkal, N. (1997). Ecofeminism: Women, culture, nature. Indiana University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2979/1569.0
Warren, K. J. (1990). The power and the promise of ecological feminism. Environmental ethics, 12(2), 125-146. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics199012221
Warren, K. J. (2001). Feminist theory: Ecofeminist and cultural feminist. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/03949-8
Warren, K. J. (2014). Feminist environmental philosophy.
Warren, K. J., & Cheney, J. (1991). Ecological feminism and ecosystem ecology. Hypatia, 6(1), 179-197. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.1991.tb00216.x
Shiva, V. (1988). Staying alive: Women, ecology, and survival in India (Vol. 84). Kali for Women New Delhi.
Zein, L. F., & Setiawan, A. R. (2017). General overview of Ecofeminism. OSF Preprints, 10.
