The myth of “happily ever after” has pervaded Western culture for centuries. Almost all of our fairy tales and bedtime stories end with the hero and his beautiful bride riding off into the sunset. Thanks to these stories, the idea that marriage is the ultimate purpose of life and the source of all happiness is kept intact. This is especially true in the case of literature involving female protagonists. In the words of Carol L. Bean, “traditional conventions of the genre of fiction – both popular and elite – regard the search for true love (with marriage as the signifier and happiness as the inevitable reward) as the primary goal of the quests of women. ” (Bean 330) It is this concept that Alice Munro fights so passionately in her fiction. Although loaded with themes of religion, sex, and other weighty topics, Lives of Girls and Women serves as a testament to Monroe's belief that marriage does not equal to happiness. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned" Get an original essay In Lives of Girls and Women we see that Del Jordan's world has already been contaminated by the mentality of "angel in the house." Indeed, Munro gives us Del's vision and desire for the conventional fairy tale. In "Changes and Ceremonies," Del discovers that this year's operetta will be The Pied Piper, and finds herself "disappointed." , thinking that there would be no court scenes, no ladies-in-waiting, no pretty dresses." (Munro 138) Not only is young Del in love with the idea of ​​a fairy-tale romance, but she also wants her life reality reflects the conventions established by "happily ever after" fiction. As she listens to her mother's life stories, Del is eager to learn about her parents' marriage in the way tradition has taught her to expect: “Now I expected, as in all important and satisfying stories, the explosion of Glory, the Reward. Marriage to my father? I hoped that was the case. I wish he would have left me in no doubt about it. (Munro 89) While the preservation of naivety is certainly an aspect of traditional views on happiness, Munro opens our eyes to another, perhaps even more dangerous, side of these concepts. In an attempt to perpetuate the importance of marriage in our society, many people resort to scare tactics. These people lead their children to believe that any attempt to build happiness without marriage could have disastrous consequences. In “Changes and Ceremonies,” Naomi, drawing on her mother's teachings, informs Del of the consequences of having children out of wedlock: “if a girl has to get married, she either dies having [the baby], or she almost dies, or there is something wrong. Either he has a harelip or a clubfoot or his head is not right. My mother saw it." (Munro 132) Whether women fear the mutilation of their unborn children or, simply because they are raised to ignore nontraditional happiness, they succumb to the idea of ​​marriage and family as a reward This is the case for many women in Del Jordan's life. Through these women, Munro shows us how harmful it can be to consider marriage as the only source of happiness provides the image of Aunt Moira, a woman broken and decomposed by traditional female constraints: “it seemed that the darkness wafting from Aunt Moira had a gynecological odor, like that of the hairy, rubbery bandages on her legs. She was a woman who now I would recognize her as a probable sufferer from varicose veins, hemorrhoids, sagging uterus, ovarian cystitis, inflammation,secretions, lumps and stones in various places, one of those heavy, cautious, eventful and broken survivors of female life, with stories to tell." (Munro 47) In contrast to this decaying victim of tradition, Munro gives us Aunt Elspeth and Aunt Grace. Although they seem to live for Uncle Craig, these two women have been spared the trials of marriage and motherhood sisters, who could still jump up so quickly, who still smelled fresh and healthy, and who occasionally, disapprovingly, mentioned the measurement of their waists. Even getting up or sitting down, moving in the rocking chair, Aunt Moira emitted moaning noises, involuntary and eloquent like digestion and wind noises. (Munro 47-8) As depressing and terrifying as these warnings of physical harm may be, they are simply symptoms of deeper mental harm. Monroe's writing is full of stories of inhibited ambition. One of the most striking aspects of this constraint is society's reluctance to educate women. In the world described in Lives of Girls and Women, the desire for knowledge is seen as "a habit to be abandoned when the seriousness and satisfactions of adult life take over." (Munro 131) Del's mother had to educate herself using used textbooks, waiting for a chance to escape to high school. (Munro 87) Indeed, in much of Munro's fiction, "self-education through books becomes indicative of a pursuit that enhances experience and imagination." (Stich 125) Once marriage and family came into play, women had to make do with what they had. The thirst for knowledge would be seen as frivolous and extravagant. Munro shows us how society supports this notion of the traditional woman in other stories as well. In “Meneseteung,” from the collection Friend of my Youth, Munro writes about a woman who gives up marriage to write poetry without “the distractions of housework.” (Hedin 594-95) After the death of Amelda, the story's poetess, “Vidette publishes a scarcely paternalistic obituary, which acknowledges her 'sensitive and eloquent verses' but is quick to atone for this by noting 'her labors in days gone by in Sunday school' and the 'noble feminine nature'”. (Hedin 595) We see here that even when a woman manages to break the mold, society continues to try to confine her within the constraints of traditional female roles: those of wife, teacher, and spiritual guide. The constraints of these traditional female roles deprive Munro's characters of their values ​​and desires. Addie, Del's mother, was once a proud young woman who defied social norms to continue her education. He threw away traditional religion in favor of his own system of beliefs and values. As Del listens to stories of his mother's better days, he observes, "Oh, if there could be a moment out of time, a moment when we could choose to be judged, naked as we can be, besieged, triumphant, then that would be both the moment for her. Later perhaps comes the compromises and mistakes; here, she is absurd and unassailable. (Munro 87) And the compromise actually came in time. her only intellectual activity is selling encyclopedias. Her provocative views on religion give way to her husband's more traditional ones, “We belonged – at least my father and his family belonged – to the United Church of Jubilee. and my brother Owen and I had both been baptized there when we were children, which showed a surprising weakness or generosity about us there.. 32.1(2007): 120-140