Susanna Moodie’s ‘Roughing It in the Bush’ is a significant piece of Canadian literature as it describes the experience of emigrating from England to permanently settle in Canada, from Moodie’s perspective. Moodie’s initial impression of Quebec is significant as she subliminally describes nature and Canada’s scenery as if through rose tinted glasses, in the sense that she elevates Canada to a level of grandeur. These depictions of nature and beauty could be interpreted as Moodie reporting back to readers in England that Canada in reality is a viable utopia for immigrants. Moreover her descriptions of Canada and Canadian wilderness are from an imperial British point of view as evident with references to a monarchy, this could be perceived as …show more content…
This can be seen with “founded on the rock that proudly holds the height of the hill,” which personifies the landscape as being proud. This is significant as physical descriptions of height could metaphorically emphasise Moodie’s heightened emotions when depicting Canadian landscapes, this links to the use of exclamation marks, which also indicate strong feelings and emotions. This is important as it perhaps reveals that Moodie was influenced by the romantic tradition that emerged in Europe during the 18th century, which explains her sense of awe when describing the Canadian sublime. The term “ Spontaneous overflow of power feelings,” first coined by the romantic poet Wordsworth, can be used to interpret Roughing It in the Bush as Moodie based on her emotions. This can be seen with the use of long simple sentences which reveals how she writes based on emotion rather than intellect. Moreover, Moodie’s Romantic influences can be evaluated from descriptions of the human relationship with nature. Moodie personifies the River St. Lawrence as being a “great artery flowing from the heart of the world,” which not only connotes life, but could also has biblical tropes as