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An Analysis Of Heroines Of Alice Munro's Short Stories From The Perspective Of Sartre's Existentialism

Posted on:2018-05-21Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:W J DongFull Text:PDF
GTID:2405330512490409Subject:English language and literature
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Alice Munro,a Canadian short story writer,is known as “the master of the contemporary short story” and “Canadian Chekhov”.Until 2013,she has created 11 collections of short stories,including more than 200 stories.What's more,Alice Munro has won the Nobel Prize in Literature.In these stories,Alice Munro is still concentrated on the description of common women life and destiny.And she puts emphasis on the analysis of women's roles and status in family and in the society.Her style of narration is various,and her narrative language is concise and powerful.The stories about common women are expressed incisively and vividly.Alice Munro has insisted that women should admit their existence,create their essence,courageously pursue freedom,and transcend themselves by making choice freely.The thought that Alice Munro insists is coincide with Sartre's existentialism.Therefore,on the basis of the previous researches,the paper intends to use the three core theories of Sartre's existentialism-“existence precedes essence”,“hell is the other”,“free choice”,to make a further systematic research on Alice Munro's works.And the paper uses Sartre's existentialism to analyze the predicament that females are faced with,and the different choices of females.The thesis gives a new interpretation of Alice Munro's works from the perspective of Sartre's existentialism,which also provides a new angle for the studying of Alice Munro.In the paper,chapter one mainly introduces the theoretical basis,including the background,the development,and the influence of Sartre's existentialism on Alice Munro.Specially,the three main thoughts of Sartre's existentialism are explained,including the theory of existence and essence,the theory of “hell” is “the other”,the theory of free choice.In the chapter two,using the theory of “existence and essence”,the thesis analyzes the living condition of heroines,and the essence of the heroines' status.“Existence” is the premise for a female to create her essence and transcend herself.However,the patriarchal society ignores the existing value of women,which leads to the low status of women.The social demands for gender difference makes women become an attachment and subordinate to men,which gradually shapes women temperament-weak,obedient,and passive.Adopting Alice Munro's four collections of short stories named“Dance of the Happy Shades”,“Lives of Girls and Women”,“The Love of a Good Woman” and “Run Away”,chapter three uses the theory of “hell is the other” and attempts to analyze ups and downs of women.In the patriarchal society,the roles of female are constrained to be a daughter,wife,and mother.Women cannot be occupied in some social works and cannot care about political issues,which makes women become“the other” in the patriarchal society.It is evident that women will be confronted with numerous difficulties.The plights that women are faced with can be divided into four types: the emotion shackle of heroines,the career yoke of heroines,the morality fetter of heroines and the religion bondage of heroines.Chapter Four uses the theory of “free choice” to analyze profoundly different self-conducting choices of different women.And the thesis sums up the results and the causes of their different endings.In conclusion,what is the purpose of people's existence? what does people live for?And how should people do to walk out of the woods and to transcend themselves.All of these questions which are reflected deeply in Alice Munro's works.That is to say,in Alice Munro's opinion,the existence is an existence of individuals with self –consciousness.And one can transcend himself or herself by making self-conduct choices.Her short stories not only include a strong sense of contemporary but also contain a profound meaning of philosophy.In this imperfect but realistic world,in order to gain the opportunity for better development,females firstly should get rid of the traditional ideas,admit the existing value,and obtain spiritual independence and economic independence.Facing the inevitable difficulties,women should overcome the influence of the status of“the other” and make own choices courageously to construct the social harmony of sexual equality.Therefore,this analysis of Alice Munro's works from the perspective of Sartre's existentialism has very strong practical instructive significance on modern females.In modern society,women should affirm the value of their existence,keep independent and make choices calmly when facing difficulty and temptation.
Keywords/Search Tags:Sartre's existentialism, freedom, the other, self-conduct choice, transcend oneself
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