歷來學者研究英國小說家珍•瑞斯(Jean Rhys，1890-1979) 的 《夢回藻海》（Wide Sargasso Sea，1966，另譯：《藻海茫茫》）， 大都專注以下的議題：異族通婚(métisse)、奴役、父權暴力、性別 不平等、種族剝削，以及文化間衝突和誤解。評論者大多認為《夢 回藻海》是一本關於後殖民、女性主義或後現代，以及帶有自傳風 格之傑出文學作品。但是，如果以生態批評學(Ecocriticism) 的角度 重新咀嚼《夢回藻海》一書，我們就會發現：瑞斯翻寫夏綠蒂•勃 朗特（Charlotte Brontë）的《簡愛》(Jane Eyre，1847)，替此書中閣 樓上的瘋女子所寫的前半生傳記，也可讀成是一本反思「人類」（思 考的自我）與「自然」（具威脅性的他者）間複雜關係的鉅著。世人慣於忘記我們只是地球大家庭裡的一份子，就如小說中男 主角愛德華•羅切斯特的心態一般，把周遭萬物與植物看作是入侵 者，對熱帶環境，由無知而恐懼，由恐懼而厭惡。還有人一味痴心 妄想，自視為神明指派到世界上的唯一主宰。在此主從關係中，人 類為萬物之靈，高高在上，並和其他萬物疏離，萬物名正言順的受 人類宰制。在瑞斯的作品裡，羅切斯特和妻子安東妮特(《簡愛》 中的瘋女) 頻頻接觸熱帶森林與生物，可是兩人的舉止、反應和感 想卻南轅北轍。從雙方與自然接觸的經驗來說，羅切斯特出現羅伯 特•哈力森(Robert Pogue Harrison) 所稱的「理性主義的森林恐懼 症」(the forest phobia of rationalism) 的症狀，或者根本是罹患了理 性主義自然恐懼症。簡而言之，羅切斯特可視為尼爾•艾佛頓(Neil Evernden) 筆下典型的「自然界局外人」(the Natural Alien)，相對 地，安東妮特卻是大衛•艾布藍(David Abram) 書中之「肉身」 (the Flesh)，生態共容共存的典範。

As a text rich in detail with the issues of métisse (miscegenation), slavery, patriarchal violence, gender inequality, racial exploitation, and inter-cultural misunderstanding and conflicts, Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) nonetheless sheds light on human alienation from, as well as fear of, nature. What lies behind the surface of a postcolonial, autobiographical, feminist, postmodern novel is an inspiring rethinking of the complicated relationship between human beings (as the thinking self) and nature (as the daunting other). In the novel, Edward Rochester views other earthly residents and plants as merely intruders in his life. Some human beings, like him, tend to forget that we are just one of the members of a great earthly family, rather than the sole, dominant species appointed by God to govern the living world. If we consider the Rochesters’ encounters with the forest, insect, and animal as portrayed in Rhys’ novel, we will notice Edward’s sense of unease, fear, agitation when he sees them as threatening; as opposed to Antoinette’s calmness and serenity because it is obvious to her that the world also belongs to them. The European husband simply displays what Robert Pogue Harrison has called “the forest phobia of rationalism,” or more broadly symptoms of nature phobia of rationalism. In sum, Rochester could have been viewed as a typical “natural alien” as defined in the eponymous book, The Natural Alien, by Neil Evernden. By comparison, Antoinette epitomizes what David Abram calls “the Flesh,” an ideal state of ecological harmony.