Nature’s Daughters: Empowerment and Environmental Stewardship in Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer and Flight Behavior

Abstract

In the twenty-first century, women are empowered through natural elements, and they nurture and preserve their environment. ‘Nature’s Daughters’ likely refers to the female protagonists in Barbara Kingsolver’s novels Prodigal Summer and Flight Behavior, who demonstrate a strong bond with nature and play significant roles in environmental activism and conservation efforts. These characters embody the interconnectedness between women, nature, and empowerment, reflecting the idea of women as agents of change in ecological stewardship. The first discussion concerns how female protagonists, Deanna, Lusa, and Nannie, navigate challenges and empower through nature while preserving the natural environment and its beings in Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer. The second discussion concerns how the female protagonist, Dellarobia, tackles her adversities and is empowered through the migrated monarch butterflies and the conservation of the endangered species in Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior. Kingsolver highlights the themes of empowerment, oppression, Sustainable environmental management, and discrimination in society. Female characters have an intimate relationship with nature rather than men because women have the role of mothers who care for or protect family members, natural beings, and their surroundings.