A Study On The Space Of The House And Home In Iris Murdoch’s Novels

Iris Murdoch(1919-1999)is an outstanding British novelist in the second half of the 20th century.Her thoughts and works have had a significant impact in the field of literature and philosophy,playing significant role in the history of English literature.In her writing career,Murdoch has completed more than 20 novels,many philosophical works,dramas and poetry collections,so as to be considered as one of the most productive writers after Charles Dickens.Meanwhile,as an outstanding philosopher,she was deeply influenced by Sartre and Plato,and became the first female writer devoting philosophy into her novels.Hard and abstract philosophical concepts as well as profound philosophical thoughts were integrated into the vivid images and plots of her novels,which became more philosophical and thought-provoking,attracting a lot of literary lovers and researchers.Murdoch’ s works involve many fields such as ethics,morality,philosophy,art,religion and politics,carrying with important theoretical and practical value.Therefore,the study of Murdoch’s novels not only helps researchers to deeply understand the novelist’s integration and contribution in the field of literature and philosophy,but also helps researchers to deeply explore the core fields of contemporary western thought and ideology,highlighting its academic value.At the end of the 20th century,there was a "spatial turn" in the field of cultural research and social theory,which made the spatial problem gradually become a new hot spot of academic research and a new perspective of social research.In the 20th century life depicted by Murdoch,her novels show a keen awareness of the concept of space.In the complicated spatial forts and images,house① has become the object of great research value in Murdoch’s novels because of its unique spatial representation.In the framework of space criticism in the field of literary research,this study attempts to analyze and explore how Murdoch used the unique way of space writing in her novels to participate in the production of social space,and to explore the social,cultural and philosophical significance of its representation.This paper is divided into three parts.The introduction part first introduces the main literary achievements of Iris Murdoch,combing and summarizing the research status at home and abroad,and then summarizes the shortcomings of relevant research,laying a foundation for the entry and innovation of this study;Secondly,it clarifies the influence of the spatial turn in the field of literature on the study of literary works in the 20th century and the integration of relevant spatial theories in the fields of philosophy and politics,obtaining the basis for analyzing Iris Murdoch’s novels from the perspective of spatial criticism;Thirdly,it combs Murdoch’s thought,especially the spatial consciousness in her thought,which paves the way for the central topic and text analysis of this paper.The second part of this paper is the main body of the article,mainly with the help of the relevant theories of literary space criticism,taking the physical,psychological(spiritual)and social attributes of space as the starting point.Through the careful reading of novels such as The Sandcastle,and in combination with Murdoch’s philosophical thoughts,this paper analyzes the representation of the house space in Murdoch’s novels.The first chapter mainly expounds the relationship between physical space and characters’ personalities with the help of cultural geographical spatial view,and discusses how Murdoch makes use of the architectural attributes of different houses in her novels,how she shapes and expresses characters’ personalities through the writing of the house space in daily life,and how to further clarify her philosophy through her unique house narration style.Among all the spatial images,the house has the closest connection with the spatial subject,and the spatial subject interacts with the house to form a two-way spatial experience,resulting in the presentation of the personality by the house space and identification of subject characteristics.Therefore,the house is not only a place for the residents to settle down,but also a space to represent the identity and corresponding characteristics of the residents.The second chapter of the thesis mainly discusses how the house in Murdoch’s novels constructs people’s inner space to preserve the value of human nature and achieve the original intention of returning to "goodness" by virtue of the theory of space poetics and through a close reading of novels such as The Sea,the Sea.The space poetics of the house plays a powerful role in saving the spiritual wasteland of modern urbanites.When the sense of Identity is generated,this poetics is reflected in a strong sense of Happiness and Sheltering in the house space.The house construction in Murdoch’s novels integrates her profound philosophical thoughts,and strongly demonstrates her strong humanistic care and realistic portrayal.The third chapter mainly focuses on the relationship between female and space in Murdoch’s novels.Through a close reading of novels such as The Unicorn,the third chapter focuses on exploring the social relations and social space representation generated when the house space is defined as a female private space in a way of social production.Murdoch is good at using Gothic style to endow the female house in her works with the characteristics of "isolation from the world" and the ubiquitous and dangerous dark atmosphere,so as to reflect the penetration of male power,and focus on depicting male roles with the characteristics of power control to imprison female.However,the lack of knowledge and identity of female in the private residential space has become an obstacle for them to eliminate the boundary between private space and public space.The conclusion part of this paper makes a summary of the previous discussion:the house in Murdoch’s novels is closely connected with the main body of space,which can shape the character of the novel through the architectural characteristics of its physical space features;As a way of human habitation,house space can produce a strong sense of happiness and shelter function under the sense of Identity,so as to save people’s spiritual wasteland,preserve and reflect people’s spiritual value;As a product of social production,house is a space that reflects female’s unique living experience in marriage.Compared with men’ s power in public space,female are still oppressed by men’s power and confined to private space.Despite female’s resistance in private space,it has not fundamentally changed the reestablishment of modern social order.