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This paper examines certain similarities between Native American beliefs and Zen Buddhist teachings and demonstrates how Gary Snyder fuses these two traditions in his poetry. Through the analysis it has been found that the Native American wisdom of the interrelatedness of humans and nature has an affinity with the fundamental Buddhist principle of the interpenetration and interdependence of all existence or as Thich Nhat Han calls it "the inter being nature of things." Gary Snyder has developed his love of nature concurrently with his respect for Native American traditions and his interest in Zen Buddhism. Snyder draws on the primitive oral traditions of chants, incantations and songs to communicate his experiences. Like the shaman-poet of primitive cultures and in imitation of Buddhist teachings, Snyder seeks to restore reverence for nature and reestablish a harmonious relationship with the universe. Apart from emulating certain Native American beliefs and Zen Buddhist principles, Gary Snyder makes use of Zen Buddhist poetic techniques which bear some resemblance to the oral poetic tradition of the Native Americans that precedes the influence of the white man. The precision of tersely worded images reminiscent of imagistic poetry, conciseness, concreteness, simple and ordinary language, as well as an abundant use of nature and animal imagery, which are common characteristics of both poetic traditions, find their way into the poetry of Gary Snyder.

The fallen woman, long existent in patriarchal discourse and intensified by Victorian sexual ethics, succumbs to seduction or sensual desires, suffers social condemnation and ostracism, and eventually dies, either repentantly or shamelessly. The questions of female sexuality and feminine virtues are dealt with in The Great Gatsby, Daisy Miller and The Awakening. Daisy Buchanan, Jordan, and Myrtle, all three sexually transgressive women, are punished, with Myrtle, the most sexually aggressive, being subjected to an outrageous death penalty. Daisy Miller, upon engaging in acts of self-presentation and female appropriation of male space, undergoes social disapprobation and dies an untimely death. Edna, though boldly adopting a single sexual standard for both men and women and awakening to life's independence and sexual freedom, eventually realizes there is no space for her and submerges herself in the ocean. In contrast, the recent contemporary narrative pattern deconstructs the myth of the fallen woman and allows the fallen woman to live and prosper. The fallen woman, traditionally a secondary character who is considered a threat to the virtuous heroine, has emerged as a major or central character with a revolutionary power that both conquers and heals. Like Water for Chocolate, Chocolat and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café acknowledge female mobility and sexual freedom and appropriate a space hitherto denied to fallen women. Eva Bates and Gertrudis, satiating female sexual desires and representing eroticized female bodies, overturn the traditional narrative of falling and dying by becoming competent and worthy members of society. Tita and Vianne are central heroines who challenge the cult of true womanhood, embody the sexualized New Woman and display strength and personal power, making them pillars of their communities.

Laura Esquivel, Mexican, Joanne Harris, British, Fannie Flagg, American, and Isak Dinesen, Danish, are women writers who have written contemporary world popular fiction: Like Water for Chocolate, Chocolat, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, and the short story 'Babette's Feast'. Out of their desire to reflect their female identity, these women writers of four different nationalities have concertedly rejected the long-running male literary tradition, in which male characters rule and dominate and, in turn, have created a female literary tradition in which their female characters not only assert a solid and secure place in the world but also are allowed to display their female strength, resourcefulness and dominance. These contemporary women writers have brought about significant changes in contemporary fiction in which they terminate literary stereotypes and discard traditional female roles and 'untrue ' images imposed on women. These women authors reduce the male role, ridicule male characters and reverse male authority. While lessening the male role, they increase the female role, make female characters the focus of their works, and reverse former traditional practice by portraying male characters as marginal, subordinate or complementary to female interests and desires. Besides, rather than penalizing 'bad girls' these authors reward 'bad girls' and in some cases allow them to prevail in the end. The women writers, furthermore, step over the boundary into the domain of art and create female characters who take the role of accomplished artists. Theme-wise these authors determinedly deal with such distinctive feminine concerns as food, cooking, and nurturing, traditionally treated as trivial and unimportant, by drawing attention to their universal significance and elevating them to serious literary subject matter.

This paper aims to explore the connection between food and emotions and analyze how food empowers the women who cook and serve it. In the selected fictional bestsellers, which were made into successful films, food plays a vital role. Food functions as the title, the main theme, the dominant imagery, and distinctive figures of speech. Food has a direct impact on the emotions and behavior of those who consume the food prepared by these female cooks. Their food provides physical nourishment as well as emotional and spiritual sustenance. Food is used as a vehicle to communicate feelings, and an outlet for female creativity and artistic expression. The female cooks, who appear initially weak and inferior in status, grow to be influential and indispensable. Having derived their power from food, these female cooks eventually assume the roles of artistic chefs and, more importantly, saviors of body and soul.

Denise Levertov possessed an ability to capture and perceive mystical reality in apparently ordinary experience. Her sensitivity to sensuous daily life, her attention to the familiar and her application of the concrete to the spiritual opened the gates of mystery of the world and evoked spiritual insight into the essence and ecrets of life overlooked or unseen by most people. Levertov's enthusiasm for life in whatever circumstances and her persistent articulation of joy were drawn from her concern of living life to the fullest because only life experienced to the fullest could enrich and enlighten man. Though not defining herself as a feminist, Levertov spoke with a distinctively feminine but strong voice and wisely expressed a contemporary woman's perpectives on female identity, female strength , female wisdom, and female complexity while subtly advocating sexual equality. Her perceptive views of love and marriage as well as her keen understanding of womanhood well reflected the changing roles and status of contemporary women.