Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-135) and index.
1. Introduction -- 2. The Early Novels. Under the Net. The Flight from the Enchanter. The Sandcastle. The Bell -- 3. The Romantic Phase. A Severed Head. An Unofficial Rose. The Unicorn. The Italian Girl. The Red and the Green -- 4. Conflicts of Good and Evil. The Time of the Angels. The Nice and the Good. Bruno's Dream. A Fairly Honourable Defeat. An Accidental Man -- 5. Metaphors for Life. The Black Prince. The Sacred and Profane Love Machine. A Word Child. Henry and Cato -- 6. The Mystic Novels. The Sea, The Sea. Nuns and Soldiers. The Philosopher's Pupil. The Good Apprentice. The Book and the Brotherhood. The Message to the Planet -- 7. The Green Knight. Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals; The Green Knight -- 8. Conclusion.
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Iris Murdoch published her twenty-fifth novel in 1993. She has been continuously producing and publishing novels since the appearance of Under the Net in 1954. Her interest in moral problems has inclined her towards what could be seen as an unusual view of human character and human life, and has led her to developing situations which are often bizarre and offering solutions which are unsettling. The present study guides the reader through the novels, tracing basic patterns which run throughout the work and showing how the novels help to elucidate one another. Her philosophical works are referred to in order to illustrate how Murdoch uses the ingenuity and intricacy of her plots to reinforce the subtlety and anxiety of the human response to such problems as the nature of reality and of Good and Evil. At the same time, the book suggests the interconnections between the early, middle and late novels, and looks at the progressive moral discourse which the novels propose.
Murdoch, Iris-- Criticism and interpretation.
Women and literature-- England-- History-- 20th century.