La Madre Tierra que nos mantiene y cuida: An Ecofeminist Reading of Sandra Cisneros’s “Eyes of Zapata”

Abstract

This article offers an ecofeminist reading of Sandra Cisneros’s novella “Eyes of Zapata.” Inés, the female protagonist of Cisneros’s narrative, is perceived as the strange and dangerous Other by her community, much like nature has frequently been conceptualised as threatening non-human matter. However, as a curandera/bruja she forms an empowering relationship with the physical world through her visions. She achieves complete union with nature which alleviates the pain caused by reality and her visions. Inés’s special relationship with the Mexican landscape contrasts Emiliano Zapata’s, her lover’s, disrespectful approach to the elements of nature. By creating a dynamic female character in harmony with the physical world Cisneros crafts a narrative which prioritises those who have often been regulated to the position of the oppressed: woman and nature.