A Real Life by Alice Munro
"A Real Life" by Alice Munro explores the life of Dorrie Beck, a strong and self-sufficient woman from a pioneer Ontario family. Despite her background and refined education at Whitby Ladies College, Dorrie embodies a rugged independence, engaging in traditionally male-dominated tasks such as hunting and trapping. The narrative contrasts her life with that of her friend Millicent, who is settled in a conventional marriage, and another acquaintance, Muriel Snow, who is eager for marital prospects. When Dorrie meets the Anglican minister's visitor, Mr. Speirs, she finds herself unexpectedly courted, leading to a proposal that prompts her to reconsider her solitary existence. The story highlights Dorrie's internal conflict about marriage and societal expectations, as she grapples with the notion that marriage could provide her with "a real life." Ultimately, Dorrie's decision to embrace this new chapter leads her to Australia, where she finds both wealth and a fulfilling lifestyle, while her friends experience different fates. The narrative weaves humor and irony into a poignant examination of independence and societal roles for women.
On this Page
A Real Life by Alice Munro
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1992 (collected in Open Secrets, 1994)
Type of work: Short story
The Work
Munro creates sly pockets of humor in “A Real Life” as she introduces Dorrie Beck, the descendant of a pioneer Ontario family who is currently in reduced circumstances. In spite of a brief social education at Whitby Ladies College, where she developed beautiful handwriting, Dorrie has evolved into a strong, competent countrywoman. She does a man’s work, can trap and shoot with the best, and is oblivious to the social graces.
Her friend Millicent has settled into a prosaic marriage with a man nearly twenty years older than she, who owns three farms, including the Beck family farm, where Dorrie still lives alone. When Millicent gives an evening supper for the Anglican minister and his visitor Mr. Speirs, she invites Dorrie and Muriel Snow, a single, thirtyish music teacher who is desperately seeking a husband. Even though Muriel instantly sets her cap for Mr. Speirs, he is more impressed by Dorrie, who arrives late because she has to shoot a feral cat that may be rabid. Speirs corresponds with Dorrie from his home in Australia, and they decide to marry, after which she will live there with him.
The two friends sew Dorrie’s wedding dress while she stands about miserably in her woolen underwear. While Dorrie has second thoughts about the wedding, Millicent convinces her that she cannot bow out because only marriage can give her “a real life.”
Self-reliant Dorrie reluctantly submits to the prison of marriage because it is expected of her, but fortunately it offers her even more freedom. She continues an active outdoor life in Australia, growing fat and rich. Ironically, the flirtatious Muriel willingly marries a widowed minister and loses all of her former independence, while Millicent ends her days alone.
Bibliography
Franzen, Jonathan. “Alice’s Wonderland.” The New York Times Book Review, November 14, 2004, 1, 14-16.
Howells, Coral Ann. Alice Munro. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 1998.
McCulloch, Jeanne, and Mona Simpson. “The Art of Fiction CXXXVII.” Paris Review 131 (Summer, 1994): 226-264.
Moore, Lorrie. “Leave Them and Love Them.” The Atlantic Monthly 294, no. 5 (December, 2004): 125.
Munro, Sheila. Lives of Mothers and Daughters: Growing Up with Alice Munro. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2001.
Ross, Catherine Sheldrick. Alice Munro: A Double Life. Toronto: ECW Press, 1992.
Simpson, Mona. “A Quiet Genius.” The Atlantic Monthly 288, no. 5 (December, 2001): 126.