Abstract: Alice Munro’s short-story collection Runaway exposes the dilemma of women’s life socially and emotionally. In the seemingly ordinary lives of small-town people, women are suffering from the unequal sexual relations and the paradox between inner self and their families. For changing this situation they escape from reality but they never really get away from it. Alice Munro grows up during the second wave of feminism and she is deeply influenced by feminist thoughts which can be seen in her works, so it is extremely meaningful to analyze her works from feminist perspective. By analyzing this work from feminist perspective, people may have a better understanding of the reasons for the impossibility for women to run away and the contradiction between women’s aspirations and reality so that people can work together to find a proper way to help them.

Key words: Alice Munro; runaway; feminism; impossibility

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Review of Feminism-3

3. Manifestations of Women' s Runaway-4

 3.1 Runaway from Sexual Relations-5

 3.2 Runaway from Family Ties-7

4. The Impossibility for Women to Run away-9

 4.1 The Limitations of Women Themselves-10

  4.1.1 Women’ s Dependence on Men-10

  4.1.2 Women’ s Unwise Methods of Rebellion-12

 4.2 The Obstacles from Society-13

  4.2.1 Long Standing Constraints from Men-14

  4.2.2 Deep-rooted Confinement from Conventional Ideas-15

5. Conclusion-17

References-19