Leonard Woolf’s novel The Village in the Jungle from a Feminist Perspective

Abstract

L eonard Woolf’s The Village in the Jungle, published in 1913, provides a vivid and criti cal depicti on of life in colonial Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). While the novel primarily focuses on the harsh realiti es of the rural community under the colonial rule, it also off ers signifi cant insights into the gender dynamics of the ti me. Further, it is largely considered as a work illustrati ng the severity of colonizati on, the suff ering of the villagers who had to face up to it, their fi nal decimati on, and the closing up of the jungle on the village. Delving deeper into the novel, one observes the aspect of gender undercurrents through the behaviour of the villagers, both male and female. Applying Simone de Beauvoir’s feminist theory, in an analysis of the conduct of the villagers concerned, emerge the underlying themes of patriarchal oppression, resistance, and the struggle put up by women to gain autonomy. Thereby, the prominent themes of the novel such as the infl uence of colonialism in the behaviour of society and a unique form of feminism that emerges to counteract it can be refl ected on through the applicati on of de Beauvoir’s feminist theory to the novel.