Ecocritical Study of Kalidasa s Lyrics and Selected Poems of William Wordsworth

Abstract

The present thesis is based on an Ecocritical analysis of the selected poems of newlineKalidasa and Wordsworth from a comparative perspective. The main focus of the newlinethesis is to explore the ecological consciousness and aesthetics as manifested in newlinethe selected texts; further, the thesis endeavors to construct the organic newlinerelationship depicted between the natural world and human culture in both the newlinepoets. The thesis traces the evolution of Ecocriticism over the time; different newlineissues of ecocriticism such as ecology, deep ecology, social ecology, romantic newlineecology, wilderness, and environmental aesthetics, are likewise investigated in newlinethe selected texts. The thesis through the study of the selected works of both the newlinewriters tries to show how both the writers envision an idealistic view of life which newlinewould empower humans to achieve maximum synchronization and newlineinterdependence with their natural or physical environment. Kalidasa represented newlinethe Hindu way of life in ancient India; his works mirror the socio-cultural milieu of newlinethe ancient India, and a system of shared moral and ethical values towards newlineNature can be gleaned from his works. In the poetry of Kalidasa, Nature is newlinecherished with a profound spiritual passion; for him, Nature speaks to divine newlinebalance, divine music, and heavenly harmony. Kalidasa doesn t merely use newlinenature as an idealised setting for his works but endows it with living attributes and newlinev newlinea personality of its own. While Wordsworth may represent a cloud, Kalidasa sees newlinethe cloud in Meghaduta as having a fully developed consciousness; both the newlinepoets invalidate the idea of customary anthropocentrism and support ecocentrism. newlineWordsworth believes that man is a part of nature and nature is a holistic living newlineorganism; he believes in the equality of the natural and the human world, the newlineformer is not subservient to the latter. Wordsworth considers it indispensable to newlinehave an ethical attitude of humility and the reverence to reestablish the severed newlineconnections between humans and the natural habitat. Thus, both Kalidasa a