A Flowering Tree: A Woman's Tale by A.K. Ramanujan from an Ecofeminist perspective

 Ecofeminism or ecological feminism is a form of literary criticism stemmed from Feminism that explores the relations and similarities between woman and nature. The term was coined by French feminist  Francoise d’ Eaubonne in 1974.Ecofemism approach  aims to detect a certain similitude regarding the ill-treatment and oppression done by the patriarchal society in case of both women and nature. Women are as subjugated, exploited, and exploited by the phallocentric society as the environment, more precisely, the Mother Nature.

 In the story of A Flowering Tree, ‘a sisterhood between a woman and a tree’ has been established subtly by the author who presented a metaphorical tale under the translucent cover of a folklore. The entire story reiterates the fact that one should treat a delicate flowering tree and woman with utmost care. There is also an implication that suggests a similarity between a flowering tree and a childbearing woman. The metaphorical ‘flowering tree’ is adroitly used by the author to indicate a menstruating woman who is emblematic of creativity and productivity. The story also directs our attention to the obvious question of a woman’s security in the society .Even when the prevailing power structure of the society imparts bulk of the power to men, the husband of the protagonist, fails to provide her security .Her own sister-in-law, accompanied by her friend ravaged her and abandoned her in a mutilated state. The recurrence of the supernatural transformation of a woman into a tree and again from a tree into a woman encapsulates the journey of a woman’s life. Every time the transformation occurs, the potential difference between the tree and a woman disappear. Obviously, the girl is in the most vulnerable state when she is a tree, because she loses the ability to move or speak. In the course of the story, we observe that maximum harm is done to her when she was in the state of a flowering tree.