In the following essay, Donovan posits that Western literary discourse has objectified and degraded nature by using inaccurate symbols (words) to displace the true meaning of the thing being described. According to Donovan, a better approach would be to direct close attention at each individual subject and to portray it in the most literal terms in order to provide a respectful description without distortion.

In the following essay, Blair discusses the metaphor of land-as-woman, offers a theoretical foundation for a balanced exploration of gendered landscape representation, and tests her new approach by applying it to Susan Warner's 1850 novel The Wide, Wide World.

In the following essay, Littenberg discusses the conditions surrounding the flourishing of women's nature writing in the late nineteenth century.

In the following excerpt, Buell discusses the distinct manner in which nineteenth-century women depicted nature.