Atieh Rafati - ph.D candidates in English Literature, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran
Saeed Yazdani - Faculty member of English Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Bushehr, Iran

This research tries to show Philippa Gregory’s “Virgin Earth”, in the light of environmental history and cultural ecology as a hybrid model of eco criticism. As Hughes debates, even though eco-criticism has become a field in literary theory and in the extensive landscape of environmental history and cultural ecology, it could benefit from an enhanced frame work. Environmental History is relevant to numerous things, the history of the mutual relations between human race and remnants of nature. Cultural Ecology, on the other hand, is based on the interaction between man, culture and environment. It describes the roots of peculiar cultural type which characterize specific cultural space. As a British historical author, the elements of environmental history and cultural ecology can be seen in Philippa Gregory’s “Virgin Earth”.In order to illustrate how the novel corresponds to the specific features of environmental history and cultural ecology, the researcher has made an attempt in this article to develop the model of environmental history and cultural ecology with their features. Then, the novel is analyzed in the light of environmental history and cultural ecology as a hybrid model. Finally, the results of the analysis will be discussed to confirm how it can be implied as a novel’s approach to literary theory.

Eco criticism, Environmental History, Cultural Ecology, Environmental Anthropology, Environmental Philosophy