Ecocriticism in Literary Works: A Textual Analysis on Lawrence’s Snake

Abstract

Lawrence is one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Ecological thoughts are conveyed from the perspective of ecocriticism in many of his works at that time. The praise of exuberant natural life is the theme of Lawrence’s poetry collection Bird, Beast, and Flower. Snake is one of the best poems in the collection. Lawrence’s poem Snake tells the story of a man’s encounter with a snake, in which the snake symbolizes all the instincts of man as a “bloody life” indistinguishable from an animal. Based on the poem of Snake, this paper tries to present the image of the snake in the poem and deeply explores the poet’s thinking about the nature of the snake. It explores the Western cultural tradition of the definition of snake to highlight Lawrence’s subversion of traditional moral values. By analyzing the contradictory image of snake, the contradictory situation of “me”, and the confession of “me”, this paper draws out the contradictions between man and nature, thought and reality, and explores the strong “ecological consciousness” and “resistance consciousness” in the poem, wishing to provide some inspiration for solving the ecological crisis and the spiritual crisis of people in the global industrial age.