【正文】 “ecocriticism” traces back to William Rueckert’s 1978 essay “Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism” and apparently lay dormant in critical vocabulary until the 1989 Western Literature Association meeting, when Cheryll Glotfelty not only revived the term but urged its adoption to refer to the diffuse critical field that heretofore had been known as “the study of nature writing.” Cheryll’s call for an “ecocriticism” was immediately seconded at that same WLA meeting by Glen Love in his Past President’s speech, entitled “Revaluing Nature: Toward an Ecological Literary Criticism”. Since that meeting in 1989, the term “ecocriticism” has bloomed in usage. 2. Confliction between Nature and Culture The Symbol of the Wilderness The word “wilderness” derives from the AngloSaxon “wilddeoren”: 4 where “deoren” exists beyond the boundaries of cultivation. So the useful part is “wild” which has been endowed with different meanings. In the course of human’s conquering nature, wilderness gradually loses selfdiscipline and its value. Particularly, with the roaring of anthropocentrism, wilderness is enduring disaggregation and reference being read. Generally speaking, the symbolic idea of wilderness presents two plex archetypes: the result of human’s moral desolation and spiritual degenerateness, and the place of moral returning and spiritual purifying. In literary history, it is regarded as the shadow of civilization connecting with evil as well as the synonymy of civilization relating to spiritual purifying, which is tinted with different cultural colors. The wilderness is also associated with Satan. In JudacoChristian conception, wilderness bines trial and danger with freedom redemption and purity。 as a result that God usually chastises disobeyed and evil people in wilderness. About the idea of wilderness, Greg Garrard, an ecocritic, in his book Ecocriticism, wrote: The idea of wilderness, signifying nature in a state uncontaminated by civilization, is the most potent construction of nature available to New World Environmentalism. It is a construction mobilized to protect particular habitats and species, and is seen as a place for the reinvigoration of those tired of the moral and material pollution of the city. The wilderness question is also central to ecocriticism’s challenge to the status quo of literary and cultural studies. In that it does not share the 5 predominantly social concerns of the traditional humanities. (Garrard: 59) The Green Studies Reader, Laurence Coupe pointed out: Wilderness doesn’t mean chaos。 and on the other the principle of calm—of the gentle, the merciful, the passive and the tame.” Wuthering Heights has the same mood as Heathcliff and Catherine. The symbolic setting accords with their intrinsic natures. The title of the book Wuthering Heights involves the meaning, “Wuthering may be viewed as a premonitory indication of the mysterious happenings to be experiences by those inhabiting the edifice.” (). It’s main characteristic is to expose to the power of the wind, which makes it appear fortresslike. The name of the place itself is symbolic of his nature. Heathcliff is described as a storm, living as he does in the tumult of a tempest. The Heights and its surroundings depict the coldness, darkness, and evil associated with Hell. This parallels Heathcliff: In addition, the author depicts specific parts of the 7 house as analogues to Heathcliff’s face. Emily Bronte describes the windows of the Heights as “deeply set in the wall.” Similarly, Heathcliff has deepset dark eyes. This symbolizes that Heathcliff has the very spirit of Wuthering Heightsthe cold, dark, wild dismal dwelling. Culture as Thrshcross Grange “Wuthering Heights suggest a tumult of winds and warping of nature of Heathcliffhis vengeful, hellish policy of torturing and degrading others of his own end. Thrshcross Grange, the name of which suggests something cultivated and Christian is less bleak and elemental than Wuthering Heights.”(Pinion, 1975) The geographical feature of Thrushcross Grange is quite different from Wuthering Heights. Grange is a more cultivated and calm house and no harsh elements threaten the very existence of it. “The two houses show us two possible ways of living: the one rocklike, built on the Heights, a bastion against the weather yet perilously close to the wild elements, the other crouched in the cultivated valley and standing a sheltered park.”(Goodridge, 1968)” The alley and the sheltered park have formed natural barrier for Thrushcross Grange, which is thus protected against the harsh winds on the moors. As a result, the effects of weather are always gentler, filtered, and weaker. In a word, the setting of Grange shows that its dwellers have the upper class of Victorian lifestyle, which represents civilization in the society. Therefore, the Linton children are the strangers of fierce wind and any other kind of wild life outside of warm house. They are beautiful in appearance and gentle in behavior, but pared with the 8 vigorous children of Heights, they are weak in constitution and lack the freshness and spirits of the healthy youths. Both Edgar and Isabella die young, as Nelly says, “Her (Isabella) family were of a delicate constitution: she and Edgar both lacked the ruddy health… ” (Bronte, 20xx:237). Linton is a typical example, facing Heathcliff’s threatening, and he is defenseless and impotent and only shows his coward weakness. For example, in Chapter Eleven, there is the facetoface confrontation between Edgar and Heathcliff. Edgar shows apparent fears, which is laughed at by Heathcliff. 3. The Distorted Relationships in Wuthering Heights: The Crisis of Social Ecology Alienation In the two houses, people are estranged and alienated from each