1. Introduction

1.1 Brief Introduction of The Love of a Good Woman

Munro#8217;s tenth book#8212;her ninth collection of short stories#8212;which is titled The Love of a Good Woman and was published in 1998, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, indicating not so much the reason for but certainly speaking to it as a re#64258;ection of an increased readership and critical appreciation in the United States. Up to the point of this book#8217;s publication, Munro ranked highly on the American literary landscape, but this particular story collection emphatically put her on the map. From this point on, Munro will occupy, with Margaret Atwood, the top tier of Canadian #64257;ction writers widely read and highly regarded by American readers and critics.

In ”The Fiction of Alice Munro: An Appreciation”(2008), Hooper gave a high appraisal to this collection:

” No story in this collection is ineffective; in fact , no story is less than very effective. Munro#8217;s poise is evermore graceful, her understanding of human behavior increasingly wiser,and her control over her material and the short-story form so second-nature to her that the result is a magni#64257;cent ease on her part that allows readers to enter, make comfortable progress through, and exit the narrative with their own ease. Despite the provocativeness of some of the themes and situations found in some of the stories, Munro has developed into an extremely hospitable #64257;ction writer: welcoming the reader into her prose to share what she understands about this particular character in this particular situation.”

As a master of the contemporary short story, Munro has published a great wealth of works in which she always describes the psychological changes, as the protagonists face various suffering in the daily life. This collection consists of eight short stories, namely ” The Love of a Good Woman”, which was also the title of this collection, ”Jakarta”, ” Cortes Island”, ”Save the Reaper”, ”The Children Stay”, ”Rich as Stink”, ”Before the Change”, and ”My Mother#8217;s Dream”.

1.2 Research Purpose and Significance

In the 1980s，Alice Munro#8217; s short stories were widely published in Canada，the United Kingdom and the United States. Gradually, her works won Western critics#8217; attention especially in English#8212;speaking countries. The books and critical articles on Alice Munro#8217; s works were booming.

She is s remarkable story teller, considering the length of her stories are usually over 7,000 words, the longest ones approaching 20,000, but they are seldom bland, never boring. She is good at writing ordinary women#8217;s life experiences and reveals their inner world. The Love of a Good Woman was first published in 1998 and it won the National Books Critics Circle#8217;s Award for fiction and the Giller Prize in the same year. It is also a winner of the Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award-Fiction Book Year in 1999, and Munro is also the winner of the same award as Author of the Year in 1999. Munro#8217;s writing style is worth commenting on. Her language is spare, lucid, and frank, describing minute details of the quotidian life, such as food, furniture, casual conversations and reminiscences, bodily smells and functions, as well as momentous events in women#8217;s lives such as love, marriage, sex, childbirth, and divorce, etc.

This study concentrates on analysing protagonists#8217; character features by the description of Munro and then discusses Munro#8217;s ethical thought and its enlightenment to our daily life as readers.