Abstract  Alice Munro, a Canadian short-story writer who gained international recognition with her exquisitely drawn narratives. The Swedish Academy dubbed her a “master of the contemporary short story ” when it awarded her the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2013. “I want readers to start reading my novels with Dear Life, which is my best work,” Munro once said. As her last work, Dear Life has been written with devoted efforts. The last four stories in the book “have the nature of autobiography in terms of emotion”, and tell her “initial, final and most intimate words” about her life. Most of her works are from a female perspective, with a keen viewpoint and realistic style, focusing on the life experience of ordinary Canadian towns, exploring the complex psychological and emotional world of ordinary women. Although Munro is not a high-profile feminist writer, her works show the ultimate concern for the fate of women. In today’s society, women’s status has improved greatly, but still under the influence of long-term patriarchal concepts. There is still a long way for women from all walks of life to pursue full independence and equality. There are many female characters in Dear Life, who experience different degrees of feminist consciousness awakening through their love, sexual experience, maturity and aging, and along with their pursuit of freedom and independence. This essay takes Munro’s Dear Life as a research object, analyzing the awakening of feminist consciousness and revealing the feminist thought contained in the book.

Key words: Alice Munro; Dear Life; feminist consciousness

Contents

Abstract

1 Introduction-1

1.1 Introduction to Alice Munro-1

1.2 Introduction to Dear Life-2

2 Feminist Consciousness in Different Aspects-3

2.1 The Feminist Consciousness Concerning Family-3

2.2 The Feminist Consciousness Concerning Society-7

2.3 The Feminist Consciousness Concerning Nature-11

3 Conclusion-13

Bibliography-15

Acknowledgements-16