“The Progress of Love” occurs in two different places and timelines. Throughout Euphemia’s narrative, the story takes place in the fictional town of Netterfield County (both during the present and her childhood). On the other hand, in Marietta’s narrative, the story takes place in the town of Ramsay, where she grew up in.
Having grown up in a small town in Ontario herself, Alice Munro uses vivid descriptions to paint a realistic picture of small towns. In the story, she is able to create a country-like community which depict close-knit relationships. Additionally, Munro undeniably makes her Canadian identity known by including Ontario and Toronto in her story, rather than sticking to fictional towns.
Below are passages about the following places:
Euphemia’s Childhood Home:
“The house we lived in had big, high rooms, with dark-green blinds on the windows. When the blinds were pulled down against the sun, I used to like to move my head and catch the light flashing through the holes and cracks. Another thing I liked looking at was chimney stains, old or fresh, which I could turn into animals, people’s faces, even distant cities.” (p. 684)
Netterfield County:
“…the big stone highschool building, all the old initials carved in the desks, darkened with varnish. The first burst of summer outside, the green and yellow light, the townlike chestnut trees, and honeysuckle. And all it was was this same town, where I have lived now more than half my life.” (p. 686)
“Sitting in school, just over a hill from home, I would try to picture my mother’s face.” (p. 687)
“The country we could see through the mesh of screen and the wavery old window glass was all hot and flowering– milkweed and wild carrot in the pastures, mustard rampaging in the clover, some fields creamy with the buckwheat people grew then.” (p. 686)
“I told her how my father cut the ice on the lake every winter and hauled it home, and buried it in sawdust, and that kept it from melting.” (p. 691)
“In summer, the open windows let in the cedary smell of the graveyard and the occasional, almost sacrilegious sound of a car swooshing by on the road.” (p. 693)
“Finally, a white frame building appeared, with verandas and potted flowers, and some twinkling poplar trees in front. The Wildwood Inn.” (p. 693)
The town of Ramsay:
“Marietta was still running around loose up in her town of Ramsay, on the Ottawa River. In that town, the streets were full of horses and puddles, and darkened by men who came in from the bush on weekends. Loggers. There were eleven hotels on the main street, where the loggers stayed, and drank.” (p. 687)
“The house Marietta lived in was halfway up a steep street climbing from the river. It was a double house, with two bay windows in front, and a wooden trellis that separated the two front porches.” (p. 687)
“She was her little sister, Beryl, and some other neighbourhood children rolling down the bit of grassy terrace to the sidewalk, picking themselves up and scrambling to the top and rolling down again.” (p. 687)
“She ran along the sidewalk, which was at that time a boardwalk, then on the unpaved street, full of last night’s puddles. The street crossed the railway tracks. At the foot of the hill, it intersected the main street of the town. Between the main street and the river were some warehouses and the buildings of small manufacturers.” (p. 688)
“A train was coming into town. Marietta had to wait.” (p. 689)
Other Places:
Netterfield County Home: Euphemia’s father willingly admitted himself to this retirement home immediately after the death of his wife.
Minneapolis/Seattle: Places where Marietta’s father (with his new wife and younger daughter, Beryl) relocated to after the death of his first wife.
California: Beryl currently resides in this city. She notably compares country nights to city nights.
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Munro, Alice. “The Progress of Love.” An Anthology of Canadian Literature in English. 3rd Ed. Donna Bennett and Russell Brown. Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2010. 681-701. Print