The human world cannot be separated from that of nature.Now-adays, Eco-criticism has been playing an extremely vital role in shaping the essence of human society. This term refers to the study of literature and environment from an inter-disciplinary point of view and aims at improving the predicament of mankind on domestic, cultural, social, ethical and psychological levels.So far as Desai's eco-critical outlook is concerned, she, also, has a great attachment with nature and environment. All her fiction, starting from Cry, the Peacock (1963) to her latest mind-blowing novel The Zigzag Way (2004), have quite lively descriptions of natural environment, in which she embroiders drama of despair, defeats and illusions of individual characters. However, the present paper attempts at finding out prismatic refraction of eco-criticism in her first novel Cry, the Peacock which is a touching story of Maya, a neurotic young woman suffering basically on account of incompatibility of her thoughts and emotive impulses with her insensitive, pragmatic and rational advocate husband Gautama. In this novel Desai has sketched the disturbed mental status of the female protagonist co-relating with the natural surroundings. In it she doesn't focus on the pollution of river, ponds or other resources; doesn't tell about the adverse impact of scientific advancement on the nature and environment, rather reveals out the lulling and soothing effects of nature on the deteriorated psyche of Maya through her cinematographic technique, by using appropriate symbols, metaphors or images from nature.
Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Gautam Buddha Mahila College, Gaya
