摘 要

《逃离》是爱丽丝·门罗最著名的短篇小说集之一。《机遇》，《匆匆》和《沉寂》三部以朱丽叶为主角的短篇故事，分别写到了朱丽叶的选择以及她的精神成长。《机遇》描绘了朱丽叶逃离学术压力的影响，《匆匆》描绘了朱丽叶逃离从照顾她的父母的义务。第三个故事《沉寂》集中在朱丽叶逃离母亲这一个角色上。 本文通过详细研究朱丽叶在三部短篇小说中不同的逃离，探讨了朱丽叶的主人公的精神成长，目的在于展示爱丽丝·门罗如何通过朱丽叶的人物刻画来传达她的女权主义思想。

关键词：爱丽丝·门罗；《逃离》；朱丽叶；人物刻画

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Demonstration 2

2.1 Juliet's runaway from academic pressure 2

2.1.1 A brief introduction of the story "Chance" 2

2.1.2 Juliet’ s dilemma of being a professor 3

2.1.3 Juliet’ s epiphany of her new self-awareness 5

2.2 Juliet’ s runaway from her parents’family 7

2.2.1 A brief introduction of the story "Soon" 7

2.2.2 Juliet’ s contradictions with her own parents 9

2.2.3 Juliet’s reflection upon her primary family 10

2.3 Juliet’ s runaway from her own family 13

2.3.1 A brief introduction of the story "Silence" 13

2.3.2 Juliet’ s disputes with her daughter 14

2.3.3 Juliet’ s reshaping of her spiritual belief 17

3. Conclusion 19

Works Cited 22

Bibliography 23

Juliet’s Runaway and Spiritual Growth

—— A Study of the Characterization in Alice Munro’s Three Short Stories

1. Introduction

Alice Munro, a contemporary Canadian female writer, was born in Winger, Ontario, in 1931 and is known for her short stories. To date, she has published 14 short stories, known as "Contemporary Chekhov" and "Short Queen." In 1968 she published her debut short story "Dance of the Happy Shades", which was highly praised by readers. She subsequently won the "Governor General's Awards" as Canada’s highest literary award, established her status in Canadian literature and gradually became a world renowned literary writer. Since the 1980s, the collections of novels from Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries have widely included Munro's short stories. In 2005, the US "Time Magazine" selected Munro as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. European and American critics call Alice Munro one of the most famous contemporary novelists. In 2013, Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Her works are based on women's love, marriage and daily life. They reflect the theme of women's self-growth. Their style is simple and delicate, and their emotions are profound. Juliet, 21, who has a master's degree in classical literature and is writing a doctoral dissertation, teaches Latin in a private school. She loves reading and likes the work she wants to do. However, being a female scholar seems not to be an ideal future. In the dilemma of marrying or not, she chose to flee to find the fisherman who happened to be on the train and lived with him. Several decades later, her cohabiting boyfriend was wrecked at sea. She had to raise their under-age daughter alone. Subsequently, Juliet has picked up her books and returned to the academic world. At the same time, she begins to complete the unfinished doctoral thesis.

In Alice Munro's collection Runaway, three short stories, "Chance", "Soon" and "Silence" reveal the mother-daughter relationship of two generations, and depict the escape and growth of the protagonist Juliet. In three stories, Juliet experienced her own runaway, her mother' death and her daughter's runaway. "Her career was a success, but her relationship with her parents, her husband and daughter was not handled well." (Allentuck, 1977) These three short stories respectively reflected Juliet's life predicaments in different periods and her growth in difficult times. Therefore, this thesis will explore the spiritual growth of the protagonist Juliet by the detailed study of Juliet’s different runways in three short stories, with the purpose of demonstrating how Alice Munro conveys her feminist thoughts by the characterization of Juliet.

1. Demonstration

2.1 Juliet’ s runaway from academic pressure

2.1.1 A brief introduction of the story "Chance"