Abstract Alice Munro, the 2013 winner of Nobel Prize for Literature, is acclaimed as the master of the contemporary short story for her special way of thinking and great perception. Runaway, one of her best-known works is full of feminism, in which Munro explores the dilemma of Canadian ordinary women in small towns and gives a lot of enlightenment for modern women. Scholars at home and abroad have mainly focused on the theme of escape and the consequences of escape. How escape and feminism can be combined, however, is neglected. Therefore, this thesis attempts to interpret the stories from the perspective of Feminism. Firstly, through the analysis of feminism, it discloses the contradiction among women, men and themselves. Secondly, the analysis of the escape of women from family, sexual relationship and themselves reveals the awakening of female consciousness. Thus a feminist interpretation enhances the story’s readability and profundity, and helps to explain why this short story collection has stood out as a classic.60055

Key words: Alice Munro; Runaway; feminist perspective; escape; female consciousness                                 

摘要2013年诺贝尔文学奖获得者艾丽丝・门罗，因独特思维以及视角而被誉为是当代短篇小说巨匠。门罗最著名的短篇小说之一《逃离》充满了女性主义色彩。在这部作品中，门罗探索了女性在现代文明社会中所遭遇到的困境并且给现代女性很多启示。国内外学者主要侧重于研究逃离主题以及逃离的后果，而女性主义与逃离主题相结合的研究相对较少。因此，本论文从女性主义视角分析文本。首先通过对女性主义的分析，揭示女性与家庭、男性以及自我之间的矛盾。其次，对女性逃离家庭、男性以及自我的分析来揭示女性意识的觉醒。因此女性主义解读增强了小说的可读性与深刻性，并且帮助我们理解该小说之所以成为经典的原因。

毕业论文关键词：艾丽丝・门罗；《逃离》；女性主义；逃离；女性意识

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. The Feminist Analysis of Runaway 3

3.1 Escape from Family as Restraint 3

3.2 Escape from Sexual Relationship 5

3.3 Escape from Self-restraint 7

3.4 Awakening of Female Consciousness 9

4. Conclusion 11

Works Cited 12

1. Introduction

Alice Munro, an outstanding short story writer, was born in the community of Wingham in North Huron of Ontario, Canada in 1931. She has written many famous short stories such as Dance of the Happy Shades which won the General’s Award, the story Who Do You Think You Are that won a Second Governor General’s Literary Award in 1978. Runaway is one of her masterpieces which makes her win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. In the book,  the struggle, love and suffering of the women in small towns are vividly described. Munro is skilled in writing about complex status of people, especially women, and good at using unique perspectives to describe people’s different kinds of conflicts in life. Now Alice Munro is considered as a master of the contemporary short story. 

Runaway is a famous short story collection which consists of 8 short stories. All dramatis personae of these short stories are normal women, all of whom live in small towns in Canada. The short story collection describes their daily life in detail including love, friendship, and topics related to sickness and death. Three of the eight stories (“chance”, “soon” and “silence”) are about a single character named Juliet Henderson. There is a same theme throughout the whole book, which is about women’s escape from the original environment to pursue their ideal life. They are trapped in their current life and try to find a way out as they are dealing with the limits and lies of passion, unfulfilled dreams, motherhood, betrayal, and bonds of love-between men and women, friends, and parents and children. Feminism is both an intellectual commitment and a political movement that seeks justice for women and the end of sexism in all forms. Bale Susan’s work “Women Writers of a Certain Age” discloses the works of Alice Munro.