Fiona’s wish-world and its conflictsReadingThe Children Actwith the narrative theory of possible worlds

Abstract：In McEwan' s novelThe Children Act(2014) , Fiona Maye, a highly-respected judge, is going through dilemmas in both marriage and career. This paper reads Fiona with the narrative theory of possible worlds developed by Marie-Laure Ryan, analyzing the internal conflicts of Fiona' s wish-world and its conflicts with other possible worlds, and thus revealing the nature of Fiona' s actions and psychological conflicts. The analysis of the movement of possible worlds would provide a better way to interpret the internal relations in the narrative universe and the narrative impetus as well.

Keyword：Ian McEwan;The Children Act;narrative theory;Marie-Laure Ryan;possible worlds;