AN ECOCRITICAL READING OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH'S "TINTERN ABBEY"

Conservation of Nature has become a primary task of every person in the contemporary world. The natural disasters in the recent years have not only enforced the human society to think of the importance of Nature for human survival and the need for a harmonious relation with it, but also have cautioned everyone that any human action against Nature will yield destruction of the humanity at large. Consequently, today, the study of Nature has formed an integral part of various academic domains. The focus given to Nature in literature is perceivable in the literary theory known as ‘ecocriticism’. This paper presents an outline of ecocriticism, followed by the sources of ecological crisis, and solutions offered by Wordsworth in “Tintern Abbey” to protect Nature. It provides an account of the three stages of Wordsworth’s attitude to Nature in the light of ecocriticism, and the portrayal of the reward for love of Nature.