FEMINIST APPROACH OF PEARL S BUCK: A CRITICAL STUDY OF ‘THE GOOD EARTH’

Feminism refers to movements aimed at defending and establishing equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women in a male centric world. Right from Christine de Pisan to Mary Woll stone Craft, from Simone de Beauvoir to Jane Austin and beyond, women have been demanding their rights in a male centric world. Pearl Syden stricker Buck, the Nobel Laureate, contributed a great deal to the rapid expansion of feminism in America as well as China. Pearl Buck was able to shape American perceptions of China more effectively and positively than other feminists, and other missionaries. She tries to bring out the pathetic condition of women in ‘The Good Earth’ especially through the character of O-lan. The present paper aims at depicting the status of women in patriarchal Chinese society and social conditions responsible for it. This was fulfilled by critical and analytical study of Buck’s renowned novel ‘The Good Earth’.