The Phenomenon of Female Friendship in Alice Munro's Novel „Child's Play”

Abstract

The article raises a scientific problem –understanding the conscious and subconscious of a woman, her psychology. In the novel Child’s Play by the Canadian writer Alice Munro, the issues revolve around the phenomenon of female friendship, the ethical question of killing a person. The purpose of the article is to formulate the paradigm of female friendship in Alice Munro’s work, and to trace its dynamics. The paradigm of female friendship includes the concepts: time; emotional component, morality. In concept of time, female friendship is temporary and short-lived. The emotional component reveals the women’s characters, who are influential and effective, able to build relationships of trust. The moral dilemma is presented in the conflict of sick and healthy, which is revealed in the criminal choice of action: murder as proof of fidelity. On the basis of feminist criticism, female identity is revealed in the ability of heroines to kill. Female experience acquired by heroines is needed to evaluate and re-evaluate their actions, their tendency to commit a crime. Through these accents, the peculiarity of the phenomenon of female friendship is established, and its dynamics is traced in the healthy and sick conflict.