Analysis of the Short Story “Passion” by Alice Munro with respect to the Canadian

Landscape and Feminism Movement in Canada

The Short Story “Passion” by Alice Munro is woven into the ethos, history and landscape of

Canada. It is a story about the quest of a girl against the crippling societal norms and expectations

and her “awakening to selfhood”. The story deals with the theme of feminism and heavy

reliance on setting and ample description of the Canadian landscape classify it under typical

Canadian literature.

The story opens and we can see that an elderly woman named Grace, the protagonist of the story

returns to her hometown and reflects back at her younger self forty years ago. She was in a

relationship with a guy named Maury and both were about to get married but one incident

changed her life and she got a chance to break out, to escape or run away from that passionless

relationship. So, contrary to societal expectation, she made her own decisions no matter what the

outcomes were. And now after 40 years, when she examines her decision with mixed feelings.

Significance of Setting in the Story

Setting of the story is rooted in the landscape of Canada. Story constantly moves back and forth

between past and present so we can see a contrast in how the rural setting has transformed and

urbanized. The story starts off and we can see how the elderly Grace describes the landscape by

constantly juxtaposing between past and present. It is set in Ottawa Valley and the narrator

narrates how there have been changes. The place was known for its many small lakes. A purely
rural setting so close to nature, there was just one road running towards the main lake, there were

weeds, and wild strawberry, stand of cedar, maple and balm trees but now the place has become a

“suburb” with many roads, a post office and stores in the passage of forty years.

For Canadian writers nature is a source of relief and escapism from the harsh realities of life.

Many Canadian writers have sent their female protagonists into “wilderness” for refuge and

rehabilitation and psychic renewal (Thoman). The protagonist in this story also comes back to her

hometown in order to reflect upon her life, her decisions.

Theme of Feminism in the Story

Each society creates a certain image about men and women. Women are told to be obedient,

sacrificing and subservient to men. In order to address the unjust behavior and raise voice against

the patriarchal mindset, Canada witnessed certain women or feminist movements. These

movements in the second half of the 20th century provided females with opportunities to

scrutinize the underlying structures of their lives (“Feminist Movement in Canada”). Feminist

writers like Alice Munro raised their voices against discrimination and unfair treatment women

got in society. According to a critic, Munro’s stories are “Centered on liberation of women –

sexual liberation, the economic liberation and liberation from the cultural domination of

males” (qtd Zhitong). The present story also deals with similar themes.

In the current story, Grace is shown as a girl who challenges the stereotypical notions about

females. Despite belonging to a humble background and having fewer resources she has a quest

to learn anything and everything. She studies History, Botany, Zoology, English, Latin, French.

Also she aspired to learn “Physics, Chemistry, Trigonometry, Geometry and Algebra though

these subjects were considered particularly hard for girls” (Munro 6). This shows an
orthodox or patriarchal mindset that society does not consider females intellectual or mentally

capable enough to study some subjects. But Grace challenges this mindset.

Moreover, she dislikes stereotypical approaches followed by girls. She has got a rage against

girls in movies as we can see in these lines, “She hated girls like Elizabeth Taylor in that

movie, she hated spoiled rich girls of whom nothing was ever asked but that they wheedle

and demand” (Munro 5). This shows that she is not submissive or docile like women are

portrayed in society.

But, she quite understands what society expects from females, that they should be “Beautiful,

treasured, spoiled, selfish, pea-brained”, to fall in love with. But once they get married they

should be “Not selfish anymore, but just as pea-brained. Forever” (Munro 5). Unfortunately,

she is stuck in a similar relationship. Maury, her fiance, admires her for her beauty but restricts

her physically and psychologically. He is the product of a society for whom a woman is meant to

do whatever her male counterpart wishes, her role is nothing but to please or obey him. Maury

could offer her “a whole lifetime of comfort” (Munro 3) but still internally she is not satisfied,

she senses that something is lacking in their relationship but can not figure out what it is.

Later on, one incident acts as an eyeopener for her and changes her life all together. Grace gets

injured and Neil, Maury’s half-brother, takes her to the hospital and on their way back home they

share intimate feelings which she always wanted in her unconscious mind but were repressed due

to societal pressure. For Grace this entire episode was “a dream-like experience” (Munro 31).

Here in this point in the story we realize that Grace wants to be librated sexually, which feminists

at that point in time in Canada were also raising their voice for. Unlike other women in society,

she didn’t want to be caged or enchained in the name of relationship, in the name of love and
care. That was a moment of enlightenment for her. She feels that her relationship with her fiance,

Maury lacks freedom and passion. The lines from the text, “How strange that she’d thought of

marrying Maury. A kind of treachery it would be. A treachery to herself" (Munro 30).

shows that here Grace identifies that she can’t get along with Maury because their relationship

does not give her free hand, freedom to execute her free will and above all it lacks passion. The

Roads in the story are symbolic of progress. She goes on a road journey with Neil and how her

life, her perspective changes. As written in the text, “This road was narrower and rougher” but

also “There was a feeling of sanctuary” (Munro 26).

Just a day after this entire episode, Neil dies and after that things become clear in Grace’s mind,

She realizes that she must break away from the passionless relationship with Maury which was

forcing her to abide by the patriarchal norms which she was always against. Maury wrote her a

letter asking, “Just say he (Neil) made you do it. Just say you didn’t want to go” (Munro 36)

and she wrote him back saying, “I did want to go”. She was also going to add “I am sorry”

(Munro 36) but stopped herself which shows that she thinks that there is nothing to be sorry

about, she used her free will to go with Neil, everyone has the right to make their own decisions.

Moreover, she walks out, put an end to their relationship, it was her own choice, and being a

human she has every right to think, to grow, to evolve, to take her own decisions, to pursue

whatever she wants to. So, she sets off on a journey of self-discovery, and self-growth. After 40

years, when she examines her decision she has mixed feelings.

Conclusion

In short, in this story Passion, Alice Munro sketches a realistic picture of the Canadian landscape

and Canadian society back in the 20th Century when in Canada the 2nd wave of feminism was at
its peak and women were striving for equality, liberty and independence. Being an advocate of

women’s rights, Munro through Grace shows that like men women too have every right to make

decisions regarding their life, relationships, career and things like that. They have every right to

grow, evolve and pursue whatever they want no one can hold them back.
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Runaway. Student Research Proceedings, vol. 4, no. 1, 2019.

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2011.

Thoman, Corinna. Representations of Women and Nature in Canadian Women's Writing. Masters

Dissertation, 2008.

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